Who's Nightmare?
by LoneGunGirl88
Summary: Freddy visits two girls in their dreams, but finds that he can't hurt them because they don't fear him. Now he's stuck with a fangirl and a wiseass in his dreamworld who won't leave him alone. Who's nightmare is it again? Lowered rating. Chap 27 up.
1. Freddy Movie Marathon

Heyla! I'm writing this story at request from my friend who asked me to write her a Freddy Krueger story. Hope you like it Angie! Please read and review! Oh, and I don't own anything but myself. And Angie owns herself.  
  
Who's Nightmare?  
  
Chapter 1: Freddy Movie Marathon  
  
Angie returned the DVD to its case, which she then placed back on its shelf before pulling out the next one and starting it up. She walked back to the couch bed and flopped down as her friend Kim walked back into the room, clutching two bags of Cool Ranch Doritos.  
"Which one we on now?" Kim asked, tossing Angie one of the bags.  
"Five," Angie responded, hitting play and tearing open her Doritos bag. "Can you see what time it is?"  
Kim leaned over the edge of the bed to peer at the clock. "Almost ten." She smirked suddenly. "The movies will be over sometime around, say, four."  
Angie snickered. "Hope you don't have to get up tomorrow."  
"I don't," Kim responded nonchalantly, pulling over her sketch pad. Angie snorted and pulled over her own drawing supplies. She was drawing a scene from the Freddy movie they had just finished watching, adding herself into the picture.  
"This is my second favorite of the lot," Kim said suddenly a little later, pointing her pencil at the screen. Angie didn't pay attention. She was too busy ogling Freddy, who had just come onscreen. Kim glanced over at her unresponding friend, snorted and rolled her eyes, and returned her attention to her drawing.  
They finished the fifth and sixth movie, and Angie went to put in the seventh. Kim glanced over and raised her eyebrows.  
"We're actually watching that one? I thought you hated number 7."  
"But it's a Freddy movie," Angie pointed out.  
Kim shrugged. "And your point is? It's a BAD Freddy movie." Then she shrugged. "Oh well, put it in. At least we can say that we watched every Freddy movie ever made in one night."  
Angie laughed and started it up. After the seventh they watched Freddy vs. Jason, while yawning fit to crack their faces. They finished that one sometime after five. Angie shut down the system and returned the DVD to its case, which she admired fondly for another minute before returning to its shelf.  
She returned to the bed to pile her art supplies on the floor. Kim had already done so with hers, and was settling herself comfortably into her side of the bed, surrounded by stuffed animals. Angie shook her head. Her friend had never grown out of those. She settled herself into bed, then snapped out the light.  
"I still say the first one is the best one," Kim muttered sleepily.  
"You just like that one because of Johnny Depp," Angie accused. She heard an affirmative snicker from her friend.  
"Yeah, I do. But even without him the original is the best one."  
"Anything with Freddy in it is good," Angie said firmly.  
"He's all yours," Kim said over a yawn. "Sweet dreams. Go dream of Freddy."  
Angie smirked. Freddy Krueger. Her dream demon. "Good night," she called to her friend, but Kim didn't respond. She was already asleep. Angie shut her eyes and followed suit.  
  
Cool! Chapter one is done. It's really short I know, but I'll try to make the next few chapters longer. Anyway, please read and review. 


	2. Freddy's Fangirls

Hi! I'm back. Double post, cool right? Hehe. Please read and review. The faster you review, the faster I update. Oh, I own nothing, not even myself. Sad, isn't it?  
  
Chapter 2: Freddy's Fangirls  
  
Angie opened her eyes with a groan. The first thing she noticed was that it was still dark out. That meant that she'd only been sleeping an hour, tops. She groaned again, threw her arm across her eyes, and tried to get back to sleep. No such luck.  
She was lying still for about another minute when she heard an eerie screeching, like the sound of metal on metal. She opened her eyes with a snap and sat up. The noise came again.  
Curious, Angie got out of bed, feeling her way around it in the dark. She accidentally bumped into Kim, and her friend woke with a groan.  
"Wa'sit?' she muttered incoherently. The screeching noise rang again, louder and more prolonged then before.  
Completely awake now, Kim sat straight up in bed, then wordlessly followed Angie to the front door. They could clearly see that the door was unlocked.  
"Didn't we lock this?" whispered Kim. Angie didn't answer, simply reached over and opened the door. The two girls were met with a blast of steam as the stepped out onto a steamy catwalk. They both turned around, neither surprised to see that the door was gone, and that they were now staring at a blank wall.  
They turned and started to walk down the catwalk, both with a clear idea of what was happening. Angie stared around expectantly, looking very excited. Kim simply looked annoyed.  
"You know, I WAS having a good dream," she muttered, arms crossed across her chest. As the screeching noise started again, Kim yelled "Shut up!" over her shoulder and the sound halted as if shocked.  
About three seconds later Kim tensed up, then whipped around with an angry snarl. Angie turned as well, then saw the reason that her friend had become so defensive. Freddy Krueger stood behind them, leering evilly and waving with his dagger-glove. His leer began to fade into a confused frown as he saw the reactions of the two girls, however. Kim simply looked disgusted and was glaring death in his direction, while Angie was trying hard not to hyperventilate. But neither girl was in the slightest frightened. Well he could fix that.  
"Welcome to my nightmare. Prepare to die, little pigs," he called mockingly.  
Kim faked a huge yawn, while Angie tried not to squeal. Kim glanced sideways at her friend and intoned "BREATHE, Angie," before shifting her attention back to Freddy. She was smirking.  
"You know Krueger, if you want to scare us, you might want to start by coming up with an original line, not one that's so old it's about to crumble into dust." Freddy stared at the two girls, completely stupefied. He saw the girl's eyes sparkle with sudden mischief. "Another thing, that outfit? I think you can find something scarier to wear than a Christmas sweater."  
Freddy's mind reattached itself. "IT'S NOT A FING CHRISTMAS SWEATER, BITCH!" The girl was smirking, and her friend was laughing fit to crack her ribs.  
"I've always wanted to say that," Kim muttered to the still laughing Angie. Then she spoke louder. "There's another thing I've always dearly wanted to do." She stared pointedly at Freddy, then gave her friend a significant look. Angie looked really confused, then her face brightened as she caught on to what her friend was thinking.  
Freddy backed up a step. This could NOT be good. The girls suddenly ran straight at him. He stood stunned. Usually people ran AWAY from him. Then he was hit full force by a flying tackle from both girls, who then rolled off him, still laughing, only to start wrestling each other.  
Freddy stood up, muttering curses angrily under his breath. They had wanted to tackle him? He looked at the two girls in disgust. They were now wrestling over... his hat? Wait a sec. Freddy felt his head. Yup, his fedora was gone. Really pissed now, he stalked angrily over to the two wrestling girls, and snatched the fedora away from the two of them.  
"That's mine!" he snapped, jamming the hat back on his head.  
"Aw Krueger, spoiling our fun?" asked Kim, standing up. Angie stood up as well, staring avidly at Freddy and grinning like a maniac.  
"I'm gonna gut you like a pig, bitch!" he snarled at the girl.  
"I'm waiting." Kim crossed her arms in front of her chest, smiling like a cat with a bowl of cream.  
Freddy ran forward and struck out at her with his daggers. Her expression never changed. Freddy's glove stopped an inch from her face, as if it had struck an invisible force field. What the hell? He tried again, and again, each try ending with the same result. And the girl kept the same all-knowing smirk on her face.  
Freddy whirled and tried to run her friend through, but he found that he couldn't touch her either.  
"You can't hurt us Krueger," crowed Kim. He turned away from the snickering Angie to face her. Kim leaned closer to him, as if about to impart a great secret. "Because we're not afraid of you."  
  
Chapter 2 done now. Great! Okay, a few more disclaimers down here. That whole force field thing I read in the story Defiant Dreamer. I originally was gonna have Freddy's glove just go through us, like he does to Nancy at the end of Freddy one, but that made him seem to ghostish, so I had him do this. I actually had the idea BEFORE I read Defiant Dreamer but because I posted this after her, the idea belongs to her. The whole thing with the hat I've read in multiple fanfictions so I don't know where to give original credit to, but the original idea is not mine. Anyway, I'll try to update again soon. Please read and review! 


	3. Stuck With Us

**Hey! Sorry for the long wait for an update, but my family went to Virginia to visit our cousins and just got back yesterday. So here's the next chapter and I'll try to update sooner from now on. Enjoy! Oh, I don't own Freddy Krueger, but Angie wishes that she did.**

Chapter 3: Stuck With Us  
  
For the first time Freddy took a good look at the two girls in front of him. The smart-ass that kept taunting him had medium blue eyes, and brown hair that she had pulled back into a pony-tail. The other girl had brown eyes, and black hair that was cut two inches below her ears. It was obviously died though, Freddy could see the dark brown at the roots of her hair.  
The smart-ass started looking around, curious. "You know, I've always wanted to explore this place," she said to no one in particular. She shot Freddy an evil, mischievous look. "I'll see you later Angie," she said to her friend. "Bye Freddy." She took a step backwards, and disappeared.  
Sputtering, Freddy turned to the short-haired girl for an explanation. She appeared just as shocked as he was at first, but she recovered faster, rolling her eyes and shaking her head, while muttering under her breath.  
"Did you know that she could do that?" Freddy demanded angrily of the girl, who shrugged.  
"Kim can control her dreams, and she's mentioned something about being a 'Dream Walker' or something like that. She compared it to what you can do, jumping into other people's dreams, bringing them into yours, creating different dreamscapes." She shrugged again. "I never really got it, or believed it for that matter. Guess she was telling the truth after all."  
Freddy grunted, disgruntled, then turned and stalked off. The girl followed after him. Annoyed, he turned around.  
"Don't you have anything better to do?" he snapped.  
"No," replied the girl calmly.  
"Go follow your smart-ass friend," Freddy told her, waving his gloved- hand at her as if shooing a fly.  
"Can't. Don't know where she went, and I can't follow her anyway, I'm no Dream Walker."  
"Well go find something else to do," Freddy snarled, turning away and stalking off. "I don't have time to fing entertain you."  
Then Freddy sensed something he'd been waiting for. Some Springwood brat had just started dreaming. Finally. Chuckling evily Freddy dream- jumped to where the child was, in another part of the power plant. But before he could jump, he felt a hand close over his arm. Swearing, he turned and saw the girl, who still had a tight hold on his arm in case he decided to jump somewhere else. Damn it all! He'd wanted to be rid of the bithch, not have her trailing along with him like some kind of fing puppy!  
He glared at her, but she didn't appear to get the message, she just stared right back at him, raising her eyebrows inquisitively. Then her eyes moved past him and she frowned, releasing his arm and taking a step back. She suddenly looked uncertain, her expression ranging from expectant and eager, to nervous and unsure. Freddy turned and folloe her gaze and grinned. His prey for the night huddled in the corner of the steamy catwalk in the form of an eight-year-old boy. Freddy grinned and flexed his fingers. Fear was radiating off the boy in waves. It appeared that the night wouldn't be a complete waste after all.  
  
Angie knew when Freddy was getting ready to leave, she'd certainly seen the movies enough times to guess, and she grabbed a hold on his arm so that she'd travel with him. They wound up in another part of the power plant. Freddy turned and glared at her, obviously pissed that she had tagged along. She just stared right back. Then her eyes found something else to rest on, the young boy crying in the corner. She backed up a step suddenly uncertain. It was always great to see Freddy kill in the movies, in fact she cheered him on. But this was real life, sort of. Did she really want to see this little boy tortured and killed? As Freddy started forward she decided that she didn't. She admired Freddy, true enough, but she wasn't going to stand around and watch him commit murder.  
She started forward to stop Freddy, but she didn't need to go more than two steps. Kim literally stepped out of thin air next to the boy, placed a hand on his shoulder, and disappeared, taking the boy with her. Freddy let out a howl of rage and turned on Angie.  
"You little bitch!" Why didn't you stop your stupid friend?! I was this close!" Freddy held up two finger knives for emphasis. Angie just crossed her arms.  
Freddy tried to slap her, but was stopped again by the force field that protected the girls.  
"I would've stopped you if she hadn't," Angie told him calmly.  
"Bitch!" Freddy hissed at her.  
"Her name's not 'Bitch'." Freddy turned. The other girl was back. "It's Angie."  
Freddy snarled. "Who the f cares?"  
Kim narrowed her eyes. "I do." She said in a quiet but deadly voice. "Her name's Angie, and mine is Kim. You want to address us, that's what you call us."  
"Where did you take that brat?" Freddy snarled at her, pretending not to hear what she had just said.  
"Somewhere safe, a dream world where you can't find him. He's awake now though, so don't waste your time looking for him. Not that It'll matter anymore. His parents will have him on Hypnocil tomorrow, so tough luck."  
Freddy cursed. Not another one! Practically the entire damn town was on the dream prevention drug!  
Kim smirked, guessing his thoughts. "That was your problem, wasn't it?" She vanished suddenly, reappearing next to her friend. Freddy whirled to keep her in sight, facing the two girls.  
"Nick there told me," Kim continued. "Most of the town is on Hypnocil. You're fast running out of prey, becoming weaker. So from here I can guess what you decided to do. You're limited to attacking only those inside of Springwood, but that didn't stop you from calling to those who live outside it, to anyone who might believe you exist. You got me and Angie, we wandered into your dream of our own free will. Your plan was to kill us, the murders would go unsolved, someone would connect you to them because there is always someone who would. That person would start a panic, and because we weren't from Springwood you now had access to people outside your cozy little town."  
Angie carefully watched Freddy's face while her friend spoke. His sour expression told her that what her friend said was entirely true. That had been his plan. But there was a snag in that Oh-so-brilliant plan of his, and she could see where Kim was taking this conversation. So Angie spoke up.  
"But then you hit a problem Freddy." Angie said. "Your plan didn't go quite the way you had planned it out. You used up most of your strength to call us here, but we're not afraid of you so you can't hurt us. Now you don't have the strength to call to anyone else." Freddy glared at her, grinding his teeth. Angie smirked, she'd hit the target dead center.  
"You've also got another problem Krueger." Kim spoke up again, grinning at Angie. "You called for us, we came, and now we're in your dream world." Angie had time to register the look of horror on Freddy's face and the satisfaction on Kim's before her friend finished. "You're stuck with us Krueger. Hope you like having guests."  
  
**Finished! I have to say I really like how this chapter came out. Hope you all like it. Please review!**


	4. The Nap

**Hi! Yay! Reviews! Yes I am obnoxious in this story, but it's fun. And I haven't actually seen the seventh movie but Angie said it's bad so I just put what she said into the story. I'm planning on watching it soon though. Oh, I don't own Freddy Krueger. **

**Angie: I do!**

** Me: What's that noise?**

** Angie: I caught Freddy and locked him in the closet. (CRASH!!!)**

** Angie: Oh crap! (Runs off to go catch Freddy.)**

** Me: Uh, on with the story?**  
  
Chapter 4: The Nap  
  
Freddy paced angrily around the power plant, seething. The two girls had finally woken up not long ago, leaving him alone to contemplate his situation. But from whichever way he looked at it he came to the same conclusion. Those two girls had been right, and that pissed him off royally.  
It was possible for him to override the barrier that protected those who did not fear him, but he had to be really strong, and he certainly wasn't going to be able to get that strong anytime soon, not with almost every blasted kid in Springwood on Hypnocil. There remained only one or two who weren't on it, but they weren't going to sleep anytime soon. And two kids would not give Freddy enough energy to try and call anyone else into his dream world. So he was stuck no matter what he did.  
He wouldn't fade away this time, because those two girls believed in him, but they didn't fear him at all, so at best he'd be weak as water. Freddy snarled. Whatever he did he was not going to get Jason or anyone else to try and make people afraid of him again. That plan had failed miserably the one time he'd tried it. Freddy's head started to hurt. With another frustrated snarl he decided to just head back home.  
  
Angie was sitting on the couch, a folding table open in front of her, drawing furiously some of the things she remembered from the night before. A small stack of pictures she'd done already lay on the couch next to her. At the opposite end of the couch Kim had curled up reading a book. Her reading was occasionally punctured with lazy yawns.  
Angie occasionally started to chatter excitedly, reliving the previous night's experiences. Kim would nod, or give an affirmative "uh-huh," but otherwise didn't say anything. After lunch Kim finally put her book down.  
"Hey Angie, I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me in hour or two will you?"  
Angie glanced suspiciously at her friend. Kim rolled her eyes. "I'm just taking a nap. Just wake me up will you?"  
Angie shrugged. "Sure. Don't bother Freddy too much."  
"Can't promise anything," Kim said. She walked into her room and flopped down on the bed. Within minutes she was asleep.  
When Kim entered Freddy's dream world she wasn't in the Power Plant. Instead she was standing on a deserted street. She noticed that the sun wasn't out. Not that she was too surprised, she figured that Freddy would hate the light.  
She wandered down the street, familiar from watching the movies so often. A sudden thought struck her, and she stared down at her hands. She concentrated, picturing the jewelry that she usually wore. Her right hand was suddenly donning a fingerless fishnet glove, and there was a wristband on each wrist. One said I Love Pirates, and the other said GC. There were also numerous red and black rubber bracelets on each arm. Grinning now, Kim also changed her outfit to a pair of army fatigue style pants, and a black Happy Bunny shirt that said "Cute but Kinda Scary." She decided to leave off her makeup, but put on her black spiked choker.  
She continued to walk down the street, gloating at her new-found ability, until she came to Freddy's house. The famous jump-roping children were outside, singing their even more famous chant.  
_ "One, two, Freddy's coming for you..."  
_ Grinning, Kim sneaked up the walk and slipped into the house.  
  
Freddy frowned. He could've sworn that he'd heard the front door click. Shaking his head, Freddy went back to flipping through his photo album. It contained pictures of all the kids he'd ever killed, and news paper clippings of the "Springwood Slasher." Ah, the sweet memories. After a few more minutes Freddy closed the album, picked it up, and wandered into the living room. He dropped the album on the coffee table as he passed by, and decided to fiddle with the computer.  
"You know Krueger, it's polite to greet your guests."  
Freddy whipped around so fast he was surprised his head didn't go flying off. There, lounging on the moldy couch, was that smart-ass that had given him so much grief the night before. She was laying on the couch as if she owned it, staring at him with a smug expression.  
"How'd the f did you get in?!" Freddy demanded.  
"Your front door is broken," Kim looked around. "As is most of the rest of your house."  
"How'd you even know I was home?!"  
Kim pointed lazily out the window. "Your welcoming comity isn't exactly subtle." Through the window the chanting children could still be heard.  
  
_ "One, two, Freddy's coming for you.  
Three, four, better lock your door.  
Five, six, grab a crucifix.  
Seven, eight, gonna stay up late.  
Nine, ten, never sleep again."_  
  
Irritably, Freddy made the window slam shut. The sounds of the chanting children was instantly cut off. He turned back to the girl on the couch. Kim, that was her name.  
"Why are you here?" he demanded.  
She shrugged. "I was bored. I got tired and decided to take a nap, so I came here. Angie's waking me up in another hour or two though. Otherwise I won't get any sleep tonight."  
Freddy hoped that her friend would forget to wake her up. Kim saw his hopeful look and smirked.  
"Angie won't forget to wake me up. She doesn't want me spending too much time with you." Freddy sensed that there was supposed to be a hidden meaning behind those words, but he didn't bother looking for it. Instead he turned away from her, going over to his computer and booting it up.  
"So what does a psycho dream killer do on a computer?" Kim queried. Freddy tried to ignore her, but she came to stand behind him. Freddy ground his teeth in irritation. In a desperate attempt to get away from her he vanished, reappearing in his small office. He had a video game here he liked to play. A game in which he had trapped the spirit of a boy named Spencer.  
Chuckling evilly Freddy started up the game. He took a savage joy in watching Spencer's dad beet the teen into a pulp over and over again while chanting "Be like me! Be like me!" Then when he started the game again for about the fifth time a new player entered the game. A girl with brown hair and army fatigue pants. Freddy howled angrily. She was beating the game! But how had she gotten into it in the first place? Then he remembered. She was a Dream Walker and the game was just another dream-scape that he had made up. And from the looks of things she had made it her day's goal to free Spencer's spirit.  
He played hard, even trying a few quickly made up cheat codes, but nothing worked. Within minutes he had lost the game. Then the system shut down, which could only mean one thing. The girl had managed to free Spencer. Seething Freddy stalked back to his living room to wait for the girl to return.  
  
Kim watched Freddy vanish with a grin. This was cool, she had chased away Freddy the almighty all-scary dream demon. She knew he wouldn't have gone far, hoping to just wait out until she woke up, so Kim began to comb the house. She found his office and peeked in through the window, watching as Freddy played his game. She frowned, then something clicked. This was the game where Freddy had trapped Spencer, one of the kids that Freddy's daughter had looked after. Kim continued to watch him play for a few minutes, listening. She could here the boys screams, and they sounded too, well, real.  
Then she realized. Spencer's spirit was probably still trapped in the game. Kim made a fast decision. As Freddy started a new game, she dream- walked into it, landing next to Spencer. The boy stared at her fearfully, but Kim grinned, and started fighting back against the game. Spencer started to help her when he realized that she was on his side.  
"Where'd you come from?" he asked.  
Kim laughed. "What answer are you looking for? I can give you many and they'd all be true."  
Spencer laughed shakily. "Can you help me get out of here?"  
Kim put a hand on his shoulder as the level changed. "It's what I'm here for."  
Within a few minutes they had the game beaten. As the system shut down, they were transported somewhere else. Kim glanced around nervously, not recognizing the surroundings.  
"I never got your name," Spencer said, catching her attention.  
"It's Kim," Kim glanced over at him with a smile, then just stared in shock as he started to disappear.  
"I think I'm...free," said Spencer wonderingly. He actually had tears in his eyes. "Thank you, so much." He stepped over and kissed Kim on the cheek. She blushed, and muttered "no biggie." Then something seemed to spark in Spencer's memory, and he addressed Kim urgently. "There are still others, Kim. Freddy's still got-" Kim held up a hand to quiet him.  
"I'll take care of it. And Angie too, if I can get her to help. Don't worry, just go now." Spencer smiled, then finally disappeared completely. "I'll take care of them," Kim whispered to herself, making a vow to Spencer. And to herself.  
  
Freddy didn't have to wait long before Kim reappeared in his living room, looking slightly distracted.  
"What the hell were you thinking bitch?! His soul was mine! They're all mine!" he screamed as soon she appeared. She looked over at him. Freddy hurled curses and threats at her for about five more minutes before he began to wind down. Then Kim took a step forward and addressed him.  
"The spirits of those kids are not yours," she said. "And I've made it my mission to free them all from you. So good luck trying to stop me, you'll need it." She began to vanish, as Angie woke her up then, leaving a slack-jawed Freddy staring at the spot where she had been standing, wondering why on earth this was happening to him.  
Back in Angie and Kim's apartment Angie was wondering why her friend had woken looking so smug.  
  
**Hope you all liked this chapter. Please, please review! I need more reviewers! **

**Angie: (pant, pant, pant) **

**Me: Did you get him? **

**Angie: Yep. He ran into your room, so I locked him in. **

**Me: --oh crap. **


	5. Look What We Can Do

**Feels like forever since I updated this doesn't it? I really to try more often, but then I'm also working on three fics at once so... (sigh) I really need to stop spreading myself so thin. I blame it on the plot bunnies!**

**Disclaimer: I think we all know this little dance by now. I don't own Freddy Kruger.**

**(clink, clink) Angie: "five-twenty, five-twenty-five..."**

**Me: "But from the sounds of it Angie's gonna try to buy him."**

**(Smash!) Me: "Angie get him OUT of my room!"**

Chapter 5: Look What We Can Do

Angie glanced over at her friend who was completely focused on the paper in front of her. She would occasionally mutter something to herself, cross something out, and write something else down. Angie shook her head. She didn't really want to take part in this little crusade that Kim had planned. But then again she really didn't want to get on Freddy's bad side.

"Okay am I missing anyone?" asked Kim, settling the paper in front of Angie. It was a list of all the people Freddy had killed and how they had died. She had even included Spencer, but there was a little check next to his name. At the bottom of the list were the names Lori and Will with little question marks next to them. Angie remembered, they had been the characters in Freddy vs. Jason. In the optional ending they had died, but because it was an optional ending Kim wasn't sure if that had actually happened or not.

"I think you have everyone," Angie said after scanning the list. She wasn't going to help rescue anyone, at least not yet, but that didn't mean she couldn't help Kim get ready to. They were best friends after all. And truth to tell she had felt rather sorry for some of the kids. Not all, but some of them she didn't think should have died.

Kim picked up the list and pondered it. Angie didn't know the whole story of what had happened. Her friend had just given her a basic overview of what had happened during her afternoon nap, but hadn't really gone into detail. But she had taken Spencer's request to heart, she really was going to try and rescue all the spirits that Freddy had trapped. Some, they knew, had already been released. Like in the forth movie, Alice had freed her friends. But there had been so many left unrescued. Angie shook her head. Well, that was Kim's problem now. But she could at least help her friend by keeping Freddy occupied. She wanted to hang out with him anyway, and it would keep him from interfering with her friend.

Kim went back to her room and Angie heard the sounds of the scanner starting up. She glanced at the clock. It was almost 5:00. It was her turn this week to make dinner, so with a sigh she got up and started. She and Kim ate in the living room, watching Resident Evil. After the movie they passed time by playing card games, and then drawing. Kim was working on her own comic book, Angie on more Freddy drawings. Kim looked over at her friend's pad and snorted.

"Don't you see enough of him at night now?" she asked.

"No," said Angie nonchalantly. She continued drawing the scene where she and Kim had been wrestling over Freddy's hat. Kim snickered in remembrance.

Around midnight the girls finally decided to call it a night, and each retired to her own room. Angie stared at the ceiling for an interminable time, feeling so excited she thought that she would never get to sleep. Kim poked her head in the door after almost a half hour had passed.

"Hey are you coming or what?" she called. Angie was puzzled. Kim rolled her eyes. "I was out on the street waiting for, like half an hour."

Angie climbed out of bed and walked out the door that Kim held open for her, emerging on a deserted, darkened street. She felt a little peeved. She'd fallen asleep and she hadn't even known it!

She turned to Kim, then started as she got the first real good look of her friend since going to bed. Kim raised her eyebrows at the scrutiny.

"What? Did I grow horns?" she asked.

"You went to sleep with your clothes on?" Angie asked incredulously. But those hadn't been the clothes Kim had been wearing all day. She also had on all her punk jewelry but Angie didn't think that she had been wearing any of it all day either.

Kim looked confused for a minute then her expression brightened. "Oh I forgot to tell you! When I fell asleep before I changed the clothes I was wearing. People had done stuff like that in the movies so I decided to try it. Why don't you?" she prompted.

Angie frowned. She glanced down at the pj's she was wearing, black with blue flames, and decided to give it a shot. It couldn't hurt. She concentrated on her pants, and found herself wearing her baggy black jeans and chains instead. Delighted, she changed the rest of her outfit to its usual gothic style.

Laughing, Kim waved her hand through the air, suddenly holding a bag of Sun Chips. Angie concentrated, but nothing happened.

"I can't do that," she admitted angrily after several more fail attempts. Kim frowned, then realization struck her face. She scooped a rock off the ground and tossed it to Angie, who caught it frowning.

"Try turning that rock into something," Kim suggested. Angie frowned, and two seconds later was holding a fatigue patterned baseball hat in her hands. She blinked. Kim was nodding.

"Anyone can turn something into something else here," she remarked. "We saw that in the movies. But either because I'm a Dreamwalker or because I've been practicing for years at controlling my dreams I can make something out of nothing. There's probably a limit though. On like size and stuff." She grew thoughtful. Then she held out one hand and a scan of the list she had made up earlier fell into it. "I'll see you later, kay? Go bother Freddy," she instructed, then vanished. Angie wondered vaguely who she was going to try to rescue tonight. Then she put it from her mind and walked up the street, headed for Freddy's house.

The jump-roping girls were in the front yard, a clear indication that Freddy was home. She almost skipped up the path and walked in through the front door. Freddy was in the living room. He snarled as Angie entered.

"What? Not happy to see me?" Angie crowed. She wandered over to stand next to the seething Freddy.

"I'm never gonna get rid of you little bitches am I?" Freddy snarled.

"Nope," Angie replied. She peeked over Freddy's shoulder. He was flipping through a photo album. She recognized a few of the pictures as kids he had killed in the movies. Others were newspaper clippings about the Springwood Slasher. Angie grinned. Of course he would collect the newspaper articles about his legendary reign of terror. She wanted to start up a conversation, but didn't know what to talk about, so instead she just stayed silent, peering over Freddys shoulder as he flipped through the album. He occasionally shot a glance at her over his shoulder, as if to check and see if she was still there.

"At least you don't run your mouth like that friend of yours," he muttered finally. "Where is she anyway?" he glanced around as if expecting Kim to jump out of the floor and yell "surprise."

Angie shrugged. "She went off somewhere, didn't tell me where." Freddy scowled. He hadn't forgotten her promise from earlier and he knew that Kim hadn't either. She was probably trying to free someone else's spirit now.

"So why aren't you at the power plant?" Angie asked.

Freddy snorted. "No one's dreaming. So why bother wasting time there if there's no one to kill?" Angie shrugged. Made sense. In a weird sort of way.

"How many people have you killed?" Angie asked. Freddy smirked.

"Stopped counting after fifty," he said smugly.

Angie stared at Freddy for a while, then a mischievous gleam lit her eyes. Before Freddy could blink, she had exchanged hats with him. Freddy's fedora was now perched on Angie's head, and her army fatigue baseball cap was on Freddy's head. Freddy scowled up at the grinning Angie. He was about to snap at her to give him his hat back, but closed his mouth. She probably wouldn't give it to him, and if he told her to that would just give her more incentive to hang on to it. So he sat on the couch and seethed. Angie laughed quietly at the seething Freddy. She walked over to the window to admire her fedora-topped reflection. She cocked her head to one side and grinned evilly. She looked great. Now if only she had a camera. Then she remembered what her friend had showed her earlier.

Freddy glanced up when Angie started rifling through the stuff piled up on his computer desk. She came up holding the burned wreak of a doll, all melted plastic and singed fake hair.

"Need this?" she asked. Freddy shook his head. Angie stared at it for a second and it turned into a camera, complete with film inside. Grinning triumphantly Angie snapped a few pictures of her fedora topped self, then of the stunned Freddy on the couch. Taking pity on Freddy Angie walked back and switched their hats again.

Angie was bored. Freddy wasn't moving, and there was nothing to do! She sighed. Freddy suddenly jumped up from the couch cursing. On reflex Angie reached out and grabbed Freddy's sleeve. He disappeared, taking Angie with him when he reappeared in another Elm street house. Angie stepped out from behind Freddy to see Kim standing near the wall of the room. She wasn't a rocket scientist, but she didn't need to be in order to guess what had happened.

Hehe. Bet you can all guess what happened. If not I guess you'll have to wait for my next update to find out. Review!

**Angie: Hey! Quit that! If break that door Kim will kill me!**

**Me: Just get him out of my room! Put him in yours if you want him around!**

**Angie: But then he'll break my stuff!**

**Me: --**


	6. Death By An Inanimate Object

Yay I'm updating again. Cheer for me. Yes that last chapter was rather pointless. That was me not knowing what to write, but knowing that I hadn't updated in a while. That was me battling writers block. I'll try to make this chapter a tad more interesting.

Disclaimer: I don't own Freddy Kreuger, but Angie is chasing him through the house.

**Freddy: HELP MEEEEEE!!!!!!**

**Angie: Come back here! (chasing Freddy.)**

**Me: --**

**Freddy: Nooooooooo!!!! (getting dragged away by Angie, fingers digging holes in the floor.)**

**Me: I will ignore them, I will ignore them, I will ignore them, I am failing miserably at ignoring them. **

Chapter 6: Death by an Inanimate Object

'_Where to start, where to start_,' Kim thought as she pondered the list in her hands. There were so many people she still had to save, so who should she start with? She closed her eyes, running one finger up and down the list a few times, then she stopped at the top and opened her eyes. The top of the list was as good a place to start as any. And the first name on the list was Glen's.

In the first movie Glen, Nancy's boyfriend, had been swallowed by his bed, liquidated, and spewed all over his room. Glen had also been Kim's favorite character in that movie. So Glen it was. No how to get to him? Spencer had been easy, his dreamscape had been right there in front of her. She'd have to hunt to find Glen.

Taking another 'walk' Kim emerged in front of Glen's house. Or what had been his house anyway, other people lived there now. But since everyone was on hypnocil Kim could easily comb the house without being detected. Which is what she did. After a quick tour she found Glen's old room, now occupied by another teenage boy, if the wrestling posters and hockey gear were any judge. Concentrating, Kim pictured Glen's room the way it had looked in the movie. When she opened her eyes the room looked exactly as she had pictured it, and Glen was sleeping on the bed, earphones over his ears and t.v. on.

But before Kim could move Glen started to slip through the bed. Screaming, he snapped his eyes open, but fell through the newly made hole in the bed, quilt, t.v, headphones and all. Not three seconds later torrents of blood gushed out, splattering the ceiling and walls.

Kim slapped a hand over her mouth and staggered from the room, revolted. '_Death by an inanimate object_,' she thought. '_Ugh_.' When her stomach finally stopped churning Kim ventured back into the room. The blood was dripping off the ceiling and running in streaks down the walls, pooling all over the floor. She knew without having to go downstairs that the blood was actually seeping _through_ the floor and dripping to the floor below.

'_Well great. Now what do I do_?' Kim wondered, a little peeved. There had to be a way to get to Glen's spirit, but where was it now? Before she had time to really think about it the blood began to fade from the room, the quilt reappeared along with the television and the headphones. Intrigued, Kim waited. Glen walked through the door not a minute later, and flopped down on the bed. His actions were natural but his eyes were haunted and tortured.

'_So that's what happened to him._' Kim thought triumphantly, putting it together. '_Freddy has his spirit reliving his death over and over. He's trapped in a never ending cycle_.' She grinned suddenly. '_Guess it's time to end it_.'

Kim moved away from her place by the wall. Glen caught sight of her, his head the only part of him that he had any real control over. He turned to her, confusion written plain on his face.

"Who are you? You were never here before," Glen said.

"No, I wasn't," Kim responded. "But I'm here this time, and I'm going to help you."

"How?" Of their own accord, Glen's hands were turning on the television and putting on his headphones. "How did you escape Freddy?"

"I didn't," Kim said, smirking. "I was never trapped by him to begin with." Glen eyed her incredulously. "Long story. I'll tell you later," Kim said, crossing the remaining distance between herself and Glen. She looked across the room and through the window, which held a perfect view of Nancy's house across the street. With a little surprise Kim actually saw Nancy in the upstairs window, fearfully trying to see in through Glen's window. Kim frowned. She hadn't seen Glen's parents anywhere, so no one else should be in this dreamscape right? Well it was a puzzle she would have to work out later, right now she had to concentrate on Glen.

Reaching over she grabbed Glen's wrist and tugged. Glen didn't move, so Kim tugged harder. She grunted with effort, finally giving up and dropping Glen's arm.

"You should lose a few pounds," Kim grumbled, knowing that really wasn't the problem. Glen was locked fast to his dreamscape. Kim grabbed hold of Glen's wrists, fighting to move them from their set pattern. She held fast, and tried to dreamwalk out of Glen's dreamscape. Baring her teeth she fought hard to bring Glen through the barriers of his dreamscape. She knew that she was fast running out of time, soon Glen would once again be eaten by his bed. Glen knew this too.

"Don't worry. You'll think of something. I can go through this again, it's happened so often. Once more won't matter." Kim's eyes flared open, snapping in anger.

"No. You. Won't," she hissed in fury. "I'm getting you out of here, _before_ this sequence ends again. You're not going through that again. EVER!" she screamed. On 'ever' several things happened. Kim gave one more yank on Glen's arms, the bed began to swallow him once more, and something finally gave against Kim's struggling mind and shattered like glass, sending Kim and Glen toppling over. They landed in the modern day apartment, both breathing hard.

Kim looked around, then let out a whoop, laughing happily. Glen joined her, his relieved laughter bordering on hysteria.

"It's over," he chanted. "It's over, it's over, I can't believe it's finally over." The room faded from around the two of them then, becoming the foggy, empty place that Kim and Spencer had wound up in after beating Spencer's game.

"What?" Glen looked around bewildered, then realization dawned on his face. "I'm free now," he whispered. He looked over at Kim, then stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. "Thank you," he choked out.

"It was nothing," Kim managed to squeak. Glen released her, incredulous joy still on his face. Kim couldn't help but smile. "Good luck, aye?" she said.

"You too," Glen told her, then started to fade. Kim found herself standing again in the modern day version of Glen's room. She leaned against the wall, smiling. Not two seconds later Freddy appeared in front of her, seething in fury.

Angie poked her head out from behind the dream demon, catching sight of her friend and grinning.

"Bitch!" Freddy screamed. "You fing little bitch!" Freddy continued to rant at her. Kim ignored him looking past Freddy to her friend.

"So who'd you rescue?" Angie asked.

"Glen," Kim answered her friend, stretching. Neither of them paid any attention to the still ranting Freddy.

"Cool your kettle, Krueger," Kim suggested. "I told you what I was doing, and you're not going to stop me. So save your breath," she advised. "I'll see you later Angie," she added, disappearing from view once again.

Freddy continued to seethe. Angie kept a precautionary grip on his arm just in case he decided to disappear too. After a few minutes he did, returning to his living room. He paced angrily around the room, occasionally shooting angry glances at Angie.

"She's not going to stop you know," Angie said finally. "You can't stop her, I can't stop her, she's just going to do what she wants and the more you complain about it the more she'll enjoy doing it."

Freddy turned and glared at her. "Oh you can't stop her can you?" he said sarcastically. "You can just kill her for me."

"No I can't," Angie said. "She's my best friend. And I have no wish to go to jail either." Freddy started another rant about Kim, badmouthing her from there to the ends of eternity. Angie sat on the couch and tried not to snicker too loudly. Watching Freddy was immensely funny. He could certainly beat a subject to death. He was still ranting when Angie finally started to wake up. His string of curses were the last things Angie heard, and what reverberated through her waking mind.

When Freddy glanced over at the couch he saw that Angie was gone and realized that she had woken up. Much to his surprise he found that he was rather disappointed. It had been rather interesting to have some company, and having a pair of ears to listen to his ranting, _willing_ ears at that, had definitely made a nice change.

**Awww. Freddy misses Angie. Isn't that sweet?**

**Angie: Awwww. He likes me.**

**Freddy: (locked up somewhere.) No I don't! I want you to die!**

**Me: where is he now, anyway? Not back in my room right?**

**Angie: Nope. I tied him up and tossed him in the closet again.**

**Me: Isn't it missing a door now?**

**Angie: Only the bottom half!**

**Me: --**


	7. A Day Off

**Howdy! Sorry bout the long wait for an update. Wish I had a good excuse but I was just lazy, after I got over a small case of writer's block.**

**Disclaimer: Me and Angie have still not succeeded in stealing the rights to Freddy Krueger. **

**Angie: Here's my cute widdle Freddy Weddie. (Squeezing Freddy's head)**

**Freddy: (strangled whisper) Help meeee...**

**Me: Ok that image is going to haunt me for a looong time.**

Chapter 7: A Day Off

The next morning the two girls were sitting down to breakfast, and Angie was flipping through the paper. She didn't like to read it all the way through, quite honestly she found it boring, but it was a good idea to keep up with what was going on in the world, so she skimmed the bigger articles.

Kim was staring at the list of people left to rescue. She had marked off Glen's name, but there were still so many people left. She didn't want to think about how long this was going to her. Weeks? No doubt. Months? Assuredly. Years? More than likely. Plus there were the people who weren't main characters in the movies. Just random others that Freddy had killed. How was she supposed to rescue them, if she didn't even know who they were or where to look? Kim put the list down to rub her temples, she was giving herself a headache. Angie could see this as well.

"Oh for the love of God, stop staring at that damn list, you must have memorized the cursed thing by now!" she exclaimed, snatching it off the table. After scanning it for a minute she tossed it back. "Do Taryn next. She was cool," Angie suggested.

"It's not who I do _next_," Kim sighed. "It's how long until I can get all of them. I think I took on more than I bargained for!"

Angie snorted. "No kidding. Maybe you should start with not rescuing someone every night. Try every other night or something, give yourself a break in between or you'll drive yourself up a wall."

"I've been up and down that wall several times already," Kim said grinning, her sense of humor returning.

Angie grinned. Her friend was relaxing. "Just pace yourself. I'm not getting off the ceiling if you go up that wall again." Kim laughed, then picked up her bagel and preceded to eat like a starving person. Angie ate her own more slowly. She needed to get her friend out of the house, but where to go? Not the movies, they needed to be outside, and there was nothing good playing anyway. She didn't want to go to the beach, and the park was boring. Then it hit her. Kim loved roller coasters, and the theme park was just over an hour away. It wasn't that late, they could spend the day there. Angie grinned, it was the perfect way to get her friend's mind off her current worries.

An hour and a half later the two girls were climbing out of their car, neatly parked in the amusement park's parking lot. Kim was eyeing every roller coaster and high-level thrill ride in sight. Angie shivered. There was _no way_ she was going on any of those. Her feet stayed firmly on the ground thank you very much. So it was with some disgruntlement about twenty minutes later that she found herself strapped into the park's tallest coaster. Angie grit her teeth, wondering how she had been tricked into this. Looking on the (very dim) bright side, at least this coaster didn't have any loops, just a lot of hills. Very _tall_ hills. Angie began to pray quietly.

"Can you imagine getting Freddy on one of therse?" Kim asked as the train began to move. Angie's hands tightened their grip on the safety harness.

"Freddy? On a roller coaster?" she asked disbelievingly. "He wouldn't go."

"_You're_ on one," Kim pointed out. "Give me a few nights to build a theme-park dreamscape. We can trick him into going on one. Come on, admit it. You'd love to do that. After all if you have suffer through this, shouldn't he?" They reached the top of the hill then. Angie's thoughts on the subject were abruptly ejected from her head and left on the tracks at the top of the hill. She was surprised her voice box wasn't cracking, she was screaming so shrilly. She was going to _kill_ Kim, oh was her friend going to _die_.

The train whipped around a corkscrew turn, a few camel back hills, and some more twists and turns, then finally came to a halt in the station. Angie thought dumbly that they would have to pry her fingers off her harness with a crow bar. So she couldn't believe it when she turned and asked Kim, "Can we do that again?" Kim laughed so hard she thought that she pulled mussels in her face.

Kim was laughing, clutching the pictures she had bought of her and Angie on the roller coaster.

"My God Ang, could your mouth get _any_ wider?" she cackled.

"Oh shut up," Angie said. "That hill was tall."

Kim laughed harder. "The picture was taken _after_ the hill, when the train slowed down before that s-bend curve."

"Oh." Angie couldn't think of a good response. So she changed the subject. "You know what you said earlier. About Freddy on a roller coaster?" Kim nodded, smiling. "You think you could build one in dream-world?" Kim grinned wider.

"Think you can get Freddy on it?" Angie shrugged. "You get Freddy on it, I'll build it."

"Deal," Angie replied. Seeing Freddy on a roller coaster would just make her day. Or night. Whatever.

They spent the rest of the day at the park, not leaving till it closed. Angie even went on two other coasters, but dead refused to do anything that went upside-down. Kim just shrugged. She'd get her friend on one of those eventually. They didn't have time for the water park, but they had gotten season passes, so they would do the water park later on in the week and just spend the day there.

They left the park laughing, they're bodies sporting small fortunes in henna tattoos, licking ice cream cones. They finished they're snacks before they got to the car, then started their hour drive home, both tired and ready for bed.

Kim drove home, so concentrating on the road didn't give her time to think about who she was going to go after that night. Which was just what Angie had wanted. Her friend was getting too wrapped up, she needed a night off here and there. So it wasn't until Kim finally crawled into bed that she thought of her list, but she was too tired to get up and retrieve it. With a small sigh she decided to forget about it for the night. She could pick up tomorrow with a fresh mind. She could work on her dream-time amusement park. With a grin at some of the ideas she was getting she slipped into sleep.

Angie wandered into dream-world a little after her friend, and didn't emerge on Elm street. Instead she was standing on what appeared to be an empty, deserted park field. It was covered in blacktop, and there were a few food stands off to the side, as well as the entry booths. She caught sight of Kim suddenly, standing not too far away. She was dressed in a pair of overalls, army fatigue style, over a black tee-shirt, and wearing black converse shoes and an army style baseball hat. Her hair was up in a ponytail and a pencil was nestled behind her ear. She was staring at a clipboard, then over at the ground in front of her. A merry-go-round suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Kim looked over at Angie and grinned.

"Like it?" she called. On closer inspection Angie saw that instead of horses the steeds were mostly dragons and unicorns and such. Kim jogged over to her friend. "Thought you'd be on Elm street?" Angie shrugged.

"Came out here," she replied. Kim frowned.

"Gotta work on that," she muttered. "Not bringing you into _my_ dream I mean," she explained. "Oh well, I'll take you over." Grabbing hold of her friend's sleeve Kim deposited Angie in front of Freddy's house, then went back to her theme park. Grinning, Angie all but skipped up the walk to pay a little visit to her favorite dream demon.

**Alright, an announcement to all my reviewers. In case you hadn't noticed the list of Freddy's victims in the Nightmare on Elm street movies is LONG. So I'm going to ask you to request your favorite characters for me to save because I'm not going to go into detail with all of them. When you review just give the name of the character, the movie they were in, a brief description (personality, appearance, likes, you get the idea), and details on how they died. I don't remember all of them that well. Anyway, read, review, request. When I get a few requests I'll update again. Thanks.**


	8. Whatever Happened to Nancy?

**Hi, I'm back again. Thank you to the people who put in requests. I just watched the third, forth, and fifth movies again this weekend, so I have a better knowledge of the characters again.**

**Esmeralda Sparrow- I will be rescuing Philip. You know if you hadn't put that in your review I don't think I'd have remembered him? And I came up with a really cool idea for how to get him too.**

**lanakael- Kristen and Kincade and definates. I even have a tie in for Kristen, but you might have to wait a bit for it. **

**Dark Borg Drone- Same as before, I will do Kristen and Kincade. And Taryn was my fave char from the third movie. I could do a really cool knife fight scene agaist Freddy with her...**

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to keep typing this? I mean really, if I owned Freddy Krueger I wouldn't be posting this on fanfiction I'd either get it published or put on the bigscreen. But since I don't own him you lucky people get to read this for free on this website. **

**Angie: Freddy? Where are you?**

**Me: what the? (peeks under desk)**

**Freddy: sssshhhhhhh. (big puppy dog eyes)**

**Angie: There you are!**

**Freddy: dammit! (being huggled by Angie)**

**Me: I need to get a new apartment. **

**Angie: My widdle Fweddy weddie. (squeezing Freddy's head)**

**Me: Preferably on another continent...**

Chapter 8: Whatever Happened to Nancy?

The two girls spent the next day working, Angie on her manga series, Kim on her most recent book. They both had deadlines which they were now in a race to meet. They had light breakfasts, then became so absorbed in their work that they skipped over lunch entirely, only putting aside their work reluctantly around dinnertime when their stomachs started snarling for attention, demanding to be fed. They ordered pizza for dinner, watching the second Resident Evil movie while they ate, (I just saw that last Saturday. It was better than the first one! I highly recommend going to see it!) then went back to their separate projects after the movie.

After revising the writing she had done that day, Kim printed out a copy and slipped it into a hardcopy envelope to mail to her editor the next day. As she stood and stretched, Angie finally laid her work aside too with a sigh of relief. She loved writing her manga series, but it was frustrating with how long it could take to actually draft, draw, and redraw. It got annoying after a while. But she was going to have to work fast to meet her deadline. Then she had an idea. She could work in dreamworld now too! It would be easy to get paper and pencils, and she could work while Freddy ranted, or fiddled with his computer, or whatever else he decided to do.

When Angie glanced over at Kim she saw that her friend was now back to pondering her list of Freddy's victims. Angie rolled her eyes. She was quite sure that her friend had memorized it by now. Kim finally put it aside, dropping it onto the coffee table.

"Who you out for tonight?" Angie queried.

"Nancy," Kim responded. "I don't think it'll be that hard to find her, and besides. She of all of them deserves to be pulled out." Angie shrugged. She didn't disagree, Nancy had been a strong character.

The two lazed around for a few hours, watching action movies and chatting, before heading to bed. They both emerged in the dreamworld on Elmstreet, taking their customary time to don their goth/punk clothing and jewelry, then heading their separate ways, Angie to see Freddy, Kim to rescue Nancy.

Angie wandered down Elmstreet, spotting the jomp-roping children on Freddy's lawn. She stopped for a moment to listen to them chant before going inside, now humming their chant to herself.

Freddy was sitting on the couch when she walked in, moodily staring around. He stood up when Angie walked in, seeming to animate more.

"What took you so long?" he snarled. Angie heard the cutoff where he had been about to mutter an explicative, and was surprised that he didn't say it. He never stopped cursing before, in fact half his vocabulary consisted of foul language. But she didn't mention it.

"What do you mean, 'what took so long?" she asked. "This is earlier than I usually fall asleep."

Freddy stalked over to his computer, muttering under his breath. Angie went and stood behind him, leaning against the wall.

"So," she said, attempting to start up a conversation. "Killed anyone lately?"

"There's no one to kill, no one's dreaming!" Freddy snapped. "And your little bitch of a friend is stealing all my trapped souls from me, so I'm losing all my previous victims too!" he snarled. Angie smirked. Seeing Freddy all worked up like this was funny. While she did pity his situation, a little anyway, she wasn't going to stop her friend. So she just leaned against the wall and stayed silent. After a while of watching Freddy play some games on his computer (which mostly consisted of a computer version of himself murdering some hapless child) she walked around him and once again began to root through the junk on his desk.

She came up with a broken pen, and a bunch of crumpled paper. Carrying her load Angie went back to the couch, setting her stuff down on the coffee table. Concentrating, the broken pen became a pencil, and the crumpled paper became fresh sheets that were ready for her to use. Smiling as Freddy began to laugh maniacally and chant "Die, little pig! Die!" she began some more work on her manga.

Kim was getting really frustrated. She had been spending well over the past hour looking for Nancy, and was turning up empty handed. Nancy had died in the third movie, defending Kristen and her friends. Of course, Kristen and crew had died in the following movie. Go figure.

Freddy had pretended to be Nancy's father, and when Nancy had stepped forward to hug him he had stabbed her through the chest. She had lived just long enough after that to help the others fight Freddy back while Freddy's bones were buried on sacred ground and to see Freddy die, supposedly. But she had died before she woke up, meaning that she was probably still stuck in dreamworld. But where?

Kim had searched the entire building where Nancy had led Kristen and the others in their final fight, for that movie, but she wasn't there. Kim had done a cursory check of the Power Plant, but no luck. She had already previously combed through Freddy's house, and the only one stuck there had been Spencer. Snarling, Kim paced around, trying to think of what Freddy would have done with Nancy. Then a memory surfaced in her mind.

"_Long story. I'll tell you later," Kim said, crossing the remaining distance between herself and Glen. She looked across the room and through the window, which held a perfect view of Nancy's house across the street. With a little surprise Kim actually saw Nancy in the upstairs window, fearfully trying to see in through Glen's window. Kim frowned. She hadn't seen Glen's parents anywhere, so no one else should be in this dreamscape right? Well it was a puzzle she would have to work out later, right now she had to concentrate on Glen._

_That's where she is_! Kim thought triumphantly. Nancy was trapped in her own home, probably stuck in her room. She had been forced to watch what happened to Glen over and over. The worst thing that she had seen, and the time she had felt the most helpless. Freddy was making her relive it uncountable times.

Grinning triumphantly Kim dreamwalked to the Elmstreet of Nancy and Glen's time. She stared at Nancy's house and grinned. This one should be easy, all she would have to do was get Nancy out of the house, and the girl would no longer be stuck in this dreamscape.

Kim walked over to the door and jiggled the handle, which was locked. Annoying. Kim concentrated, and heard the lock pop open on the inside. Also remembering the chain lock on the door, Kim unfastened that as well. She pushed open the door and walked inside. As she walked through the house she looked around. The house looked exactly like it had in the movie. She went upstairs and tried Nancys door, which was also locked. She tried using her powers to unlock it, but like with Glen, she met resistance. So she fought.

Physically, she twisted the handle and threw herself at the door, mentally she fought with Freddy's dreamscape to break the lock. She 'felt' something finally begin to give, and threw herself for a final blow. The dreamlock shattered like glass and the door burst open, causing Kim to stumble gracelessly into the room.

Nancy stood up fast, fists up to fight, but when she saw Kim she dropped her hands.

"I know you," she said, studying Kim carefully. Kim glanced over at Nancy, rubbing her shoulder where she had whacked it into Nancy's dresser. Nancy looked no older than she had in the first movie, but the streak of white she had gained when her mother had her go through the sleep program was there.

"You know me?" Kim asked, a little surprised. Glen and Spencer had had no idea who she was.

"I saw you before," Nancy said, stepping forward. "You were at Glen's. You pulled him out," she said confidently. "You rescued him." Her gaze traveled to a phone on her dresser. The phone Freddy had used to tell her that he had killed Glen, proclaiming "I'm your boyfriend now Nancy," before sticking his tongue through the phone. Kim followed her gaze and flinched, remembering that scene clearly. Nancy merely smiled.

"That's how I knew you really had saved him. The phone stopped." She turned to look at Kim again. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Kim," Kim said, reaching out her hand. Nancy took it, still smiling. "Thank you Kim," she said.

"Don't thank me yet," Kim said, smirking. "I still need to get you out of here." Nancy blinked, as if that hadn't occurred to her. Kim laughed. "Come on," she said, leading Nancy out of her dreamscape room and into the hallway.

"How did you get Glen out? No one's been able to fight Freddy like this before," Nancy said.

"Wrong," said Kim, as she and Nancy went down the stairs. "Kristin was able to, and when she passed her powers to Alice, Alice was able to. She succeeded too." Nancy blinked, remembering.

"He did get Kristin," she muttered sadly. They stepped out of the house then, and the world promptly faded, for the third time in Kim's experience becoming the foggy, empty place where Freddy's victims went free.

"I will get to Kristin," Kim promised Nancy. "And Kincade, and Joey, and all of them. I'll free them all."

Nancy smiled, beginning to fade from sight. "Thank you, for all you're doing," she said, then faded completely from sight, and Kim was sent back to Elmstreet. Smiling to herself, she crossed her arms and waited for Freddy to make his unavoidable appearance.

After a while Freddy became bored with his computer games, and shut them down. He wandered over to were Angie was seated to see what she was doing. He flopped down on the couch next to her, watching as she put the finishing touches on the one page.

"That's good," he admitted grudgingly. Angie grinned, showing him a few previous pages. His eyes sparked and he grinned, picking them up to study, but being careful not to tear them with his finger knives. Angie snickered, she had figured that he would like those. They were full of fight scenes, and lots of blood.

He finished reading them, and returned them to Angie's pile. He stood again, opened his mouth to speak, then froze. He started swearing, and before Angie could move he reached out and grabbed her by the arm, taking her with him when he dreamwalked to where Kim was. Angie was completely stunned that he had taken her. Usually she had to grab onto him, but now he had taken her for some reason.

Kim was grinning, this time not surprised at all to see him this time. Angie wondered who Kim had saved this time, because Freddy was absolutely seething. He had been mad when she rescued the other two, but now Freddy was beside himself.

"Bitch!" Freddy screamed predictably. "You dammed bitch! You saved HER, you stupid bitch, why HER?!"

"Who?" Angie asked, a little annoyed to be left out of the loop.

"Nancy," Kim said. Angie blinked, then remembered her friend mentioning that earlier. Now she knew why Freddy was so pissed, he had HATED Nancy. Out of all of the ones that Freddy killed, he had hated Nancy the most.

"Yes, I saved her, I told you I'm saving all of them, so I had to save her sometime."

Freddy dove forward, striking at her with his daggers. He was thrown into a bigger fury when they didn't connect. Kim rolled her eyes, then vanished.

Seething, Freddy tool hold of Angie's arm again, reappearing in his living room. He paced around, slashing the walls periodically, ranting at the top of his lungs, nine words out of ten generally curses.

Freddy finally wound down after a while, once again flopping beside Angie on the couch. He was still simmering, but he was no longer out of control. He was muttering under his breath periodically, watching as Angie once again began to draw.

A few hours later Angie felt the familiar tug that meant that she was waking up. She hastily gathered up her pages. Freddy glanced over at her.

"I'll see you tonight then?" he asked.

Completely startled, Angie didn't have a chance to respond before she woke up.

**Wow. Think maybe Freddy's getting a little attached to Angie there?**

**Angie: Awwwwww. My Fweddy weddie wovs me. (huggling Freddy, who is slowly turning blue from lack of air.)**

**Me: um, Angie you're gonna wanna lighten your grip. Your "Fweddy weddie" is suffocating. **


	9. New Cat, New Power

**Okay I know I keep promising to update faster and then I don't but I really don't have much time on the computer anymore. There's five people in the house who need it and writing my fanfiction isn't a priority to my parents, so I don't get to type much anymore. But I really am trying so please don't hurt me.**

**Disclaimer: You know this REALLY gets on my nerves. I don't own Freddy Krueger and neither does Angie.**

**Angie: Yes I do, I even have the papers to prove it!**

**Me: Let me see those. (reads) Angie, these are forged.**

**Angie: Dammit! How did you know?**

**Me: The Slipknot lyrics on the back kinda give it away...**

Chapter 9: New Cat, New Power 

Angie looked up from the computer when she heard a key in the lock. That meant that Kim was back, finally. It had sure taken her long enough to go grocery shopping. She heard cabinets and closets being opened, signaling that her friend was putting her shopping away.

A few minutes later Kim wandered into the living room and Angie turned to greet her, noticing that her friend had what looked like a ratty gray rug draped over her arm. Then she noticed that the 'rug' had eyes. Kim deposited what turned out to be a scraggly, dark gray cat on the arm of the couch.

"Where did you get that?" Angie asked incredulously.

"I saw her on my way to the grocery store. The pound was going to pick her up so I took her," Kim answered, scratching behind the cat's ears. "I named her Samara," she added.

Angie snorted. Samara was the name of the little girl in the Ring. Trust her friend to pick a name like that for her new pet. She already had an iguana that she called Godzilla. Shaking her head Angie turned back to the computer.

The cat followed Kim around for the rest of the day, never more than inches from her. When the girls finally turned in for the night (around 1:00 in the morning) little Samara curled up on Kim's chest, purring. The cat wound up following Kim into Dreamworld.

The two girls spent some time chatting absentmindedly while they altered their appearances , Kim wearing black leather pants and a purple army fatigue tee-shirt, Angie donning army fatigue jeans, a lime green tee-shirt, and a trench-coat. They then went their separate ways, Angie glancing back and watching as Samara trotted happily behind her new mistress.

As Angie walked she thought on what Freddy had said to her when they last parted. He had asked if he would see her, as if he cared. Did he? No, of course not. Angie had been arguing with herself all day as to why Freddy had asked. Most of the time she came to the quite likely conclusion that Freddy had asked merely to throw her off guard, or out of curiosity. But she never went anywhere else, so what would have prompted the curiosity? Unless he really did care? Angie shook herself sharply, there was no sense in getting her hopes up.

Angie trotted up Freddy's walk, her mind still a whirling twister, and let herself in. Then she stopped dead and blinked. Freddy had, from appearances, been anticipating her arrival. There was a fresh ream of paper on the table as well as several pencils. Upon closer examination Angie found that the paper was of really good quality. She almost whistled.

Freddy finally shuffled in, grumbling. When he saw Angie he perked up, then tried to hide it.

"Sure took you long enough, can't you go to sleep any faster?" he complained.

Angie, by now used to his grumblings, ignored them.

"Thank you," she said, gesturing to the supplies on the table. Freddy shrugged, walking to the computer as if it didn't matter to him, but Angie didn't miss the flicker of a smile that crossed his face before he suppressed it.

Kim was poking around her dreamland amusement park. It was starting to come along nicely. She had created a bunch of game booths that she was now playing at while Samara coiled in and out of her ankles. After a while Kim became bored with the games, she wanted to create more rides but she had discovered that she had no creativity when it came to designing roller coasters. She would have to copy preexisting ones. She grinned suddenly at the idea. At least here she couldn't get arrested for plagiarizing.

Kim dreamwalked herself and her new cat to Elmstreet, knowing no where else to go. She tampered with the idea of bothering Angie and Freddy, but decided against it. She really did not want to deal with the Dream Demon right now. So she just walked, not really watching the direction she traveled, thinking of new ideas for her book. Her thoughts were finally interrupted by a distant crash. Kim looked up in confusion to find that she had wandered rather far. She was now standing outside the open gates to the abandoned car lot. The crash had come from far inside. Kim glanced down at her cat with a grin.

"Think we should check it out?" she inquired.

Samara answered by jauntily stalking into the lot. Kim followed, still grinning. It appeared that tonight was going to be taken up by another rescue mission.

Kim followed Samara through the lot, both of them following the occasional crash, and as they got closer, the occasional scream. As they reached the center of the junkyard the glimmer of headlights broke through the surrounding darkness. They finally came to a spot where the path was blocked by a pile of cars that appeared to be part of a large ring.

Kim ran forward three steps, then leaped into the air, landing on top of the pile. She looked into the ring to see whom Freddy had trapped here, while harboring her own suspicions. Dark skin, buff, short black hair. She was right, it was Kincade.

Kim stayed where she was for a few moments, carefully watching what was happening. Kincade would occasionally try to climb out, but whenever he would get about halfway up the pile, the engine of the car he was touching would burn impossibly, sending him crashing back down to the ground, burned. The cars would also periodically spit parts at him, parts ranging as small as a screw, to as large as a steering wheel or a bumper. Kincade was covered in bruises and cuts.

Kim finally judged a lull in the spitting, used her mind to clamp down on it to keep it from starting up again, and leaped into the pit. She was met be Kincade's fist, which she barely managed to avoid. He had been terrified by her appearance from nowhere.

"I'm on YOUR side!" Kim screeched to keep him from lashing out at her again, while Samara slashed at him for trying to hit her mistress. "I'm here to help you," Kim soothed, holding out her hand.

Kincade took it gingerly, and with great trepidation, but he still took it. "I'm Kim, and my loyal defender here is Samara," Kim introduced. She was still fighting mentally to keep the cars from spitting at the two of them. Kincade seemed to notice. Then he looked up, above her head and his face suddenly registered horror. Kim whipped around and in a split second took in the sight of a car slipping off the pile and crashing down towards the two of them.

Forever after Kim would never know why she did what she did, how she knew what to do. But as the car fell towards them she threw out her arm and screamed "Shatter!" A ripple of energy emanated from her hand, bending the fabric of the dreamscape as it raced for the plummeting car. When it reached the car, the car burst, shattering into a million pieces, which harmlessly vanished.

Shaking, Kim stared entranced at her hand. What the hell had just happened?

"How did you do that?" Kincade asked in an awed voice.

"I don't know," Kim responded, equally stunned.

Kim managed to shake herself off. She needed to get them out of there, who knew when Freddy was bound to turn up.

"Come on!" she grabbed a hold of Kincade's arm and tugged. Harnessing her newfound power she threw out her arm and screamed, "Shatter!" The ripple of energy passed though the air, shattering the pile of cars in front of them like glass. Giving another tug on Kincade's arm, Kim ran, Kincade following close behind. The hope of freedom was overiding his shock and distrust.

Kim continuously looked around as they dashed wildly for the gate. Freddy must know what she was doing, he had to. So where was he? Why wasn't he trying to stop her? Then the gate came into sight. Putting on an extra burst of speed the three of them, Kim, Kincade, and Samara burst through it. They stood panting and the dreamscape faded. Kim, used to this by now, stood up to stretch, but Kincade laid a hand on her arm.

"Thank you," he whispered. Kim smiled, then opened her mouth to speak, but Kincade held up his hand. "You need to find Kristen. If not next then soon. You need to speak to her." After Kim nodded, confused, Kincade vanished from sight. Kim returned to Elmstreet, Samara twining unconcernedly through her ankles.

"Do you get the feeling he knows something I don't?" Kim queried.

Her cat didn't answer.

Angie was drawing more pages for her manga, Freddy occasionally looking over her shoulder to read them. He was actually holding a conversation with her, which was quite something. He started swearing suddenly, starting towards Angie who had a pretty shrewd idea what was going on, when he suddenly stopped, completely frozen. There was a look of utter shock and incredulity on his face.

"Freddy?" Angie called. She didn't get an answer. "Freddy, what the hell happened?" she asked impatiently. He didn't appear to hear her.

"How could? How did she? She can't be. No, she couldn't possibly be," he was muttering under his breath. Staring at the evil Dream Master Angie wondered what he was talking about, and why did he suddenly look almost frightened.

**Hehehe. I SCARED FREDDY! YAY! **

**Angie: Not yay! You shouldn't scare my poor widdle Freddy. Hey! Where did he go?**

**Freddy: (hiding on ceiling) please don't see me, please don't see me, please don't-**

**Angie: There you are! How did you get up there?**

**Freddy: Dammit...**


	10. A Night on the Town

**Wow, I'm touched. People really love this story. I'm really glad that people are liking the whole 'Freddy going soft' thing, I was afraid people would think it was OOC. Anyway, here's the latest installment, and this is dedicated to Angie. Hope you like it!**

**Angie: Freddy, GET DOWN FROM THERE! (CRASH!!!)**

**Me: I don't think I want to know…**

**Disclaimer: Have I been forgetting this? Oh well, I'm sure you all know it by now, I don't need to type it. And if anyone doesn't know that I don't own Freddy Krueger then you are just really slow.**

Chapter 10: A Night on the Town

Angie wandered down the dreamworld Elmstreet, for once taking her time and actually studying her surroundings instead of hurrying straight to Freddy's. She never thought that she would say this but she was _bored_. The only thing she did anymore was draw for her manga, which was fun but she really wanted to spend more conversation time with Freddy. Problem was talking about painful ways of murdering someone would only hold her interest for so long, and that was about the only thing that Freddy could talk about without becoming bored. They had talked about his past victims, but then he would think of someone that Kim had rescued and start on another rant, and no matter how much she liked him Angie was getting quite sick of hearing him badmouth her best friend.

Angie glanced up then and saw that she was outside Freddy's house. She wandered up the walk and pushed open the door. The door actually worked now, Freddy had taken the time to fix up the house ever since Kim had made that unexpected dream visit and rescued Spencer. She walked into the living room with her hands jammed in her pockets, muttering a vague hello to Freddy as she flopped down on the couch.

For the past few nights the persistent dream demon had been questioning her about who Kim was trying to rescue now, but Angie remained tight lipped. Again, no matter how much she liked him she wasn't going to give him any opportunity to hurt or distract her friend. Freddy appeared to have given up however, and simply muttered a hello in return, sitting moodily on the other end of the couch. For a while neither of them said anything.

Finally, Angie got up and began to pace around the living room, trying to contain her restless energy. Freddy noticed and stood up as well.

"I'm going out, you wanna come?" he asked, which in Freddy talk meant that he did want her to go, but was not going to come out and admit it.

Angie repressed a relieved smile. "Yeah I'll go," she said.

They left the house, aimlessly wandering around the Springwood streets. It was clear that Freddy was still trying to find any child that forgot to take their hypnocil, but wasn't having any luck.

"Do you watch movies?" Angie asked, fumbling around for a conversation starter.

"Occasionally," Freddy grunted in response.

"Seen any lately?" Angie persisted.

"Nope," Freddy answered. "Nothing new anyway, I stick to the good oldies."

Angie snorted. "Please. The graphics in those old movies suck. You should see a new one."

Freddy's eyes suddenly glinted. "Can you recommend one?"

Thinking for a minute, Angie finally shrugged and said, "Seed of Chucky. That was pretty good."

Freddy grinned, and quite suddenly they were no longer wandering the Springwood streets, but were standing in the lobby of a movie theater. Blinking, Angie looked around. The posters on the wall were all advertising for the movie Seed of Chucky. Angie started to walk forward and felt something brush her leg. Looking down she saw that the surroundings wasn't the only thing that Freddy had changed, he had also taken the liberty of changing her outfit. She was now clad in a spaghetti strap dress that hugged tight at the top and swished to a stop just above her knees. If that wasn't bad enough, the dress was _pink_. She hated the color with a passion. Her momentary shock was transmuted to rage, but when she turned to face Freddy there was a coy smile on her face.

Freddy grinned as she sauntered over to him, making the skirt of the dress swish back and forth. She stopped just in front of him, still smiling.

"So you think I look good in a dress?" she purred. Freddy just smiled wider. Then with no warning whatsoever Angie's fist suddenly made contact with his face, and the back of his head was introduced rather abruptly to the floor. Angie stood over him, bending down and grabbing hold of his shirtfront to drag him up to her now snarling face.

"If you _ever_ pull anything like that again I'll beat you into the ground so hard they'll have to _dig_ you out," she hissed from behind clenched teeth. She released his shirt, and his head once again made painful contact with the floor, then she stormed off. Freddy didn't move from the floor until after Angie had walked through the doors to the stairs that led to the second story of the theater. He had a rather nice view of her legs from where he was.

Picking himself up off the floor, Freddy wandered over to the concession stand and helped himself to a variety of snacks and drinks that he toted with him into the theater. Angie was already seated in the front row of the balcony seats, which provided the best view of the screen. There was no one to compete for the seats because they were the only two in the theater. With a little regret Freddy noticed that Angie had once again redressed herself in her usual gothic outfit, trench coat and all. Freddy had better sense than to change her outfit again, he knew without a doubt that she would kill him. Multiple times. In very painful ways.

So he sat down next to her, littering the seats on either side of them with the snacks he had brought in. With a casual glance at him Angie silently began munching on popcorn, calmly waiting for the movie to start. Freddy had the movie begin as soon as he sat down, and the best thing about dreamland theater was that there were no commercials. Commercials gave Freddy the strong urge to wreak havoc on something.

They watched the opening scene, which was depicted through Glen's eyes. Angie, who had seen the movie countless times, was silently quoting the characters. When the mother announced that she was taking a shower Freddy's eyes threatened to bug out of his head. Glancing at him, Angie angrily stomped on his foot. Freddy youched in pain and gave his companion a sullen glare that she didn't see, her eyes already once again fixed to the screen. When Glen made his first kill, Freddy snorted and muttered "pathetic," under his breath.

"He's a _kid_," Angie said sharply.

As Glen ran for the bathroom door Angie firmly clamped her hand across Freddy's eyes, deaf to his angry protests. She didn't move her hand until the scene was over, neatly preventing the grumpy Freddy from getting his view of porn for the evening.

Freddy sulked in his chair, making snide comments about what a baby Glen was, and how he wasn't any good at killing. Finally losing her patience Angie snapped, "He's probably better than you!" while knowing full well she didn't believe it, she was just sick of hearing Freddy complain.

The evil Dream Master turned in his seat to face her, bringing his face close to hers.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"You heard me," Angie replied coldly, trying hide how she was starting to shake at Freddy's being so close to her.

"No I didn't quite catch it," Freddy said, but he didn't sound angry at all. There was something in his voice Angie couldn't place. "So what was it you said?"

His face was now centimeters from hers, and Angie was starting to go scatter brained. He was so close to her…

A sudden, loud noise from the screen caused the two startled movie companions to whip around. The moment effectively ruined they settled back into their seats to watch again, but their minds racing around in chaotic circles.

They didn't say much else except to comment on the movie, Angie occasionally slapping a hand over Freddy's eyes, him grumbling angrily. When the movie finally ended they both left the theater, still laughing over certain scenes, and poking fun at others.

They wandered once again down the Springwood streets, Angie still munching on her bag of popcorn. As they walked, they chatted animatedly, neither having any trouble in finding topics of conversation now. But the one topic they avoided was the close moment in the theater, neither sure of what to make of it, or how to approach it, so they left it alone.

When Angie finally woke up, she lay staring at the ceiling for a while, all her attention now on the one thing that had been skating around her mind all night. What had Freddy been doing? What had he meant by it? Had he meant anything? Angie lay wondering for a while, until Kim finally poked her head in the room and asked if she was feeling well, then she leaped out of the bed as if she had been scalded and hurried past her bemused friend.

After Angie slipped out of Dreamworld Freddy went back home, already becoming bored. He thought back to that moment in the theater. Just what had he been doing? Even he wasn't quite sure. But one thing was sure, this girl was causing him more confusion then he had ever felt before. But as he stared unseeingly about the room he realized that it wasn't such a bad thing.

I'm not overly good at implied romance am I? Oh well, I tried. Oh, and I haven't seen Seed of Chucky, but Angie did and she described the beginning scene for me. I didn't put it all down in case someone hasn't seen it and wants to.

**Angie: YOU TRIED TO LOOK UP MY SKIRT?! BLOODY PERVERT!!! (beating Freddy senseless) **

**Me: I don't think I need to comment on that…**


	11. To Free A Puppet, You Cut the Strings

**YAY! Fanfiction is up and running again! It was annoying having it down for so long. Anyways, this is the latest chapter in this story that, in my mind, has grown to a many part, very long saga. (Groan) I'm gonna be working on this forever…**

**Angie: And that's bad? How dare you! **

**Freddy and Angie: (giving me deathglares)**

**Me: (ignoring the glares of death) So those of you who like this story, you'll be reading it for a long time. For those of you who don't, tough.**

**Disclaimer: No I don't own Freddy Kreuger. If I did me and Angie wouldn't have to tie him up and bolt the door to prevent him leaving. **

Chapter 11: To Free a Puppet, You Cut the Strings 

"Earth to Angie. Heellllooooo." Kim's hand waving in front of her face finally got Angie's attention, and she belatedly looked up into her friend's face. "What is with you this morning?" Kim asked incredulously. "I asked you how your night was four times."

"Oh." Angie fumbled for an excuse, and failed to find one. So she just shrugged her shoulders. "You know. Just thinking of new ideas for my manga." Kim wasn't buying the excuse and was staring at her friend with a suspicious expression. Hastily, Angie changed the subject. "What about you? Any luck with Kristen?" The question effectively drew her friend's attention away, for she had been obsessively following Kincade's advise and had spent nearly the past two weeks looking for the former Dream Walker. Kim winced as she shook her head.

"Nada. I've spent over a week looking for her!" she complained. "I can't find her anywhere. Wherever Freddy's got her, he's got her hidden well. I checked the power plant's furnace, and it's a no-go. I've combed through every beach landscape I can find, and I even trailed through that maze Freddy had Nancy, Kristen, Joey, and Kincade trapped in that time. Nothing." She rubbed her temples. "I'm letting her be for now. I'm pretty sure of the locations of some of the others, so I'll go for one of them tonight."

Angie critically studied her friend across the table. Kim was looking strained again, and was developing dark circles under her eyes. She was working herself to a shadow again, though Angie knew that she was doing her best to prevent it this time. They'd gone out a few times the past two weeks, making use of their amusement park season passes and returning for both the park and the water park. But whatever distractions occupied them during the day couldn't keep them from their obsessions at night. Angie herself was beginning to feel as worn out as her friend. It had been over a week since her movie date with Freddy, and neither had spoken about what had happened. She was about ready to scream. So all in all neither of the girls was having a pleasant time in their dreams.

Angie sighed. "Have you worked on your amusement park at all?" she asked Kim. She was rather eager to put Freddy on one of the coasters.

Kim nodded, smiling. "Yeah I have. I'll show you tonight." Her eyes sparkled. "There's something else I want to show you too," she added, but refused to say anything else.

A rather uneventful day passed for the girls. Kim's editor called to set up an appointment to discuss her book, which would only require a few days more tinkering before it was finished. Angie, too, had been in touch with her editor to give him the next chapter of her manga. Now that she was working on it in Dreamworld as well it was she was finishing her chapters at a much faster rate. Though drawing wasn't the only thing she did anymore. She and Freddy had been out several more times, often to the movies (though Freddy hadn't dared try and change Angie's outfit again, not after his first painful attempt.) Angie had realized after that first date that her lifelong obsession with the dream demon had evolved into something more. She was trying not to let Kim find out, but her friend was picking up on more than Angie was aware of. But for now, Kim resolved to hold her silence.

When the two girls entered Dreamworld that night, they emerged in Kim's amusement park, Kim gleefully showing off her new rides. Angie was getting ready to go to Freddy's when she remembered something.

"Hey, didn't you want to show me something?" she asked Kim.

Grinning, Kim produced a metal object, which resembled a thick, rough, stunted rod, and handed it to Angie. Angie puzzled over the object in her hands. It had slits at both ends, and she would have said it looked like a dagger hilt, but both ends looked like they would hold the blade, and the blade was no where to be seen. So she just shook her head. Still grinning, Kim took the object back and held it parallel to the ground. Instantly twin daggers shot out from either end of the rod. Angie whistled appreciatively. Kim still smiled. Apparently that wasn't all she had to show. She placed the dagger parallel to the ground, and it hovered in the air when she released it. As she moved her hands over the twin blades, they lengthened to follow her spreading arms, quickly becoming sword length each. Kim snapped them back into the hilt and turned to her friend for approval.

Angie grinned. She had to admit that was one really cool weapon, even for a Dreamworld contraption, despite its rugged appearance.

"I've been working on it for a few nights now," Kim said, fondly cradling the double bladed dagger. "I thought that if Freddy had a trademark weapon, then I should make one too." She snapped the blades open without warning and threw the weapon, which whirled through the air and struck a target set up for crossbows with deadly accuracy. Kim threw another one, which also whirled through the air, but sailed to the side of the target.

"You missed," Angie pointed out.

"Just watch," Kim replied calmly. The dagger came whistling past the other side of the target to return boomerang style to its caster, who neatly plucked it from the air. Angie was most definitely impressed, though she tried to mask it.

"That's really cool," she admitted. She smiled ruefully. "Wish I could make something like that."

"You can," Kim said, taking Angie's arm and bringing her to Elmstreet. "You just need to think up a weapon, design it, and find some trash to mold into it. It's not that hard."

Angie snorted. "I'll see you later," she called to her friend and preceded on to Freddy's house. Kim watched the goth walk off, and with a grim smile, dreamwalked herself away from Elmstreet. She was on another mission tonight.

During the day she had gone over her victim list again, trying to pick out someone she could find with relative ease. She had chosen Philip, one of Kristen's friends from Westin Hills Hospital. He had been the one who enjoyed making puppets in his spare time, and Freddy had killed him by turning him into a human marionette, then walking him off the roof of the building.

Kim emerged in front ofthe Westin Hillsof Kristen's day, and calmly walked up the path. She wasn't really expecting to confront anyone, so it was a rather large shock when, after locating and arriving on the appropriate floor, she came face to face with the bitch of a doctor who had been in charge of Kristen and her friends. The one who had sedated Kristen, refused to listen to Nancy, barred Nancy from the children who needed her. The one who had sedated Kristen forcing Nancy and the other kids to plunge into Freddy's Dreamworld after her, and had therefore been responsible for the deaths of Taryn, Will, and Nancy herself. Kim began to seethe as she stared at the doctor, anger consuming her mind.

"What do you think you're doing here?" the doctor was demanding. "You don't have access to this floor, it's restricted! These children need special attention, no one is to see them!"

Vaguely, Kim could here screams from down the hall. Mastering her fury she smiled benignly at the doctor.

"You know I've seen what you're doing for these kids and there's something I've always wanted to do if I met you."

The doctor frowned a little. "And that would be?"

Kim's expression changed from smiling to pure, unadulterated rage in a split second. Before the doctor could blink Kim's fist connected with the side of her head and she fell in a crumbled heap. She staggered to her feet, staring up at the girl before her in shock.

"That," Kim hissed in a voice filled with venom. "That was for Philip!" she kicked the doctor hard in the shins. "That was for Jennifer!" She continued lashing out angrily. "That's for Joey, and Taryn, and Will!" Kim stepped back then, as the doctor tried to collect herself once again, her face a mask of anger.

"How dare you!" she snapped. "All I've done is help these children!" her anger faded to fear at the look on Kim's face.

"Help them right into Freddy's arms! They _died_ because of you!" Kim stepped back once more. This woman was just an illusion, an attempt to waylay her. But Kim felt an enormous satisfaction with taking her anger out on the doctor's illusion anyway. She threw her arm in front of her and screamed "Shatter!" Calling on the powers she had so recently discovered, the powers that upon Kincade's seeing had caused him to advise her to find Kristen. The ripple of energy bent the air as ripped through the hall, and through the doctor, causing her image to shatter and vanish. Kim dropped her arm, feeling enormously satisfied.

She walked calmly down the hall, listening for the telltale sound of an anguished scream. Eventually, her search led her to the roof and she found what, or in this case whom, she had been searching for. Philip was being led around the roof by an invisible puppeteer, arms stretched in front of him like a zombie. Every so often one of the strings would jerk violently and he would cry out helplessly.

Kim snapped open her double bladed dagger and started to spin it around. "To free a puppet," she started, then cast the weapon. "You cut the strings," she finished. The blade whistled through the air, slicing through several of the strings parading Philip around puppet style. He fell to one side, the other still suspended by the string. The blade came whistling back to cut through the rest of the string before returning neatly once again to the hand of its caster. Philip collapsed to the roof, groaning. Closing her weapon she ran over to where Philip lay. His arms and legs were ripped open and bloody from where the strings had been attached to him. Kim grimaced. She would have to heal him, but she would have to work fast. Freddy had to know what she was up to by now.

Placing a hand over Philip's arm she manipulated the fabric of the dreamworld around her, bending it to her command. It was harder to do than usual, because this was Freddy's territory, and she was fighting his control the whole time. She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she finally looked up again, Philip completely healed. They both stood up, Philip staring in wonder at his now healed limbs, puppet strings no longer emerging from them. He opened his mouth to speak when an all too familiar roar of rage was heard from the opposite end of the roof. Kim swore loudly, reaching out with her mind to find the edge of this particular dreamscape, the closest point where she could free Philip.

"Do you trust me?" she asked him suddenly. Philip looked at her with a wary expression but upon seeing Freddy at the end of the roof, rapidly closing the distance between them, he nodded and placed his hand in Kim's outstretched one. She jerked his arm and all but dragged him to the edge of the roof, then jumped off with Philip in tow.

(Hmmmnnn. To stop here or not to stop here. That is the question. Nah, I'm not that mean. And besides, my reviewers would kill me if I stopped here. (Eyes pitchforks and torches reviewers are holding.) So on we go!)

Angie shifted her position on the couch, trying to get comfortable again. Freddy was sitting on the opposite end of the couch, and both were watching a movie. They had decided to stay in the house for this one, instead of going out. Angie loved watching the Resident Evil movies, Alice kicked ass.

Freddy was laughing every time he saw the zombies. Or the lickers. Or Nemisis. Or anything else that would maim and/or kill anyone and everyone in sight. He cheered whenever someone actually did die. Angie grinned. She knew he would love these movies. She would have to sketch him a few scenes from them for him.

After the last movie ended the two were half heartily suggesting other movies when Freddy's head snapped up. Angie suppressed a groan as he started swearing and vanished. She had forgotten that Kim had been planning on rescuing someone tonight. She couldn't really be mad at her friend, but it was annoying to have her evening interrupted. She sighed and settled down to draw her manga. At least Kim had waited until after the movie.

Freddy no sooner arrived on the roof where he had Philip when he saw said victim standing next to his arch enemy. He ran towards them. She wasn't getting away with this one, not this time! But the two started running as well. Freddy smiled grimly. There was no where for them to go. But to his utter astonishment the two leapt off the edge of the building. Freddy saw the barrier of his dreamscape shatter like a pane of glass, and the two vanished. Cursing colorfully, Freddy kicked the edge of the roof. That damn bitch had managed to pull another trapped soul right out from under his nose, and he was furious.

Kim and Philip landed safely on someone's lawn. Philip barely had time to take in his surroundings when they promptly faded to black. He looked around. He felt different, looser, not tied down anymore. Then it hit him. He was_ free_. He stared in astonishment at the girl beside him.

Kim laughed and gave him a push. "Go on, get out here. You certainly waited long enough." Smiling now, Philip faded from sight, a heartfelt thank you echoing back to where Kim stood.

After a few seconds though, she left the lawn she had reappeared on, dreamwalking to her amusement park. She didn't want to confront Freddy right now, so she would stay here the rest of the night. Who knew, maybe she could have it up and running by tomorrow night. Grinning, she got to work.

Hope you all liked! And for those of you Kristen fans don't worry, she's coming soon. I'd like to know if anyone wants to see me put Freddy on a roller coaster.

**Freddy: NOOO!!!!! DON'T LET HER! I HATE HIGHTS! PLEASE NOOOO!!!**

**Me and Angie: 0.o **

**Me: Anyway, Angie wants me to put Freddy on a coaster (ignoring pleading Freddy in the background.) If anyone else wants to see the rather funny sight I have cooked up, let me know and I'll put it in. Till next time then!**

**Oh and, I GOT A PUPPY! I'M SO HAPPY!!!! YAAAAYYYY!!! Ahem. Just thought might care to know. Okay so you probably don't but I'm excited, sue me. **


	12. Who Says Dream Demons Don't Ride Roller ...

**Heyla everybody! I can't believe all the reviews I got begging me to do the roller coaster scene. Guess I gotta keep my reviewers happy. So here it is! Brief warning before you read however. Freddy will probably be out of character for this chapter, because this chapter isn't really supposed to make sense. It's a little funny, off-tangent side of the story. But it will be funny. But I do not want flames about Freddy being out of character because we all know that Freddy probably does not have a fear of heights or high speeds, does not obsess over fun things, and does not scream like a girl.**

**(High pitch scream comes from somewhere in the apartment.)**

**Me: I take that back. Apparently Freddy _does_ scream like a girl…**

**Disclaimer: Angie: I own Freddy! Me: Yeah right. **

Chapter 12: Who Said Dream Demons Don't Ride Roller Coasters

"Guess what?" Kim asked as she sauntered into the room, a smirk plastered across her face.

"What?" Angie asked a little irritably. She was still sore about Freddy's leaving the night before to chase after Kim and Philip. She had heard about the event in detail when Freddy came back and ranted for the rest of the night, cursing every other word.

"It's finished." Kim responded, ignoring her friend's less than enthusiastic reply.

"What's finished?" Angie asked, her curiosity aroused. Her friend just continued to smirk, and something finally clicked. "The amusement park! You finished it?!" Angie exclaimed.

Kim laughed. "All up and running. I'll keep adding to it of course, but for now it's all ready." Angie began to squeal, all but jumping up and down in excitement. Kim laughed again, this time at her friend's reaction.

"You still want to put Freddy on a coaster?" she asked, though she knew the answer already.

"Tonight!" Angie said. "Let's go tonight." Kim grinned evilly.

That night the girls fell asleep early so that they could explore the park for a while. Angie would constantly burst out laughing as she pictured Freddy on a particular ride. They finally got back to the entrance and Kim sent Angie to Elmstreet. Angie all but ran the rest of the way to Freddy's, and she was panting by the time she opened the door. She sauntered into the living room, a smirk plastered on her face. Freddy glanced up from where he was sitting.

"What are you so happy about?" he grumbled.

"We're going out," Angie said. When he didn't move she walked over and started tugging on his shirt collar. "Now! Let's go!" She pulled on his shirt with one hand and his ear with the other.

"Alright! Alright! Just let go!" Freddy finally relented, grumbling and getting to his feet. Angie all but squealed and raced for the door again. Freddy followed at a more sedate pace, wondering what on earth had gotten into her. They were walking for a few minutes when Freddy felt a hand close on his shoulder and Elmstreet promptly vanished. Freddy found that he was sitting down, that he was strapped in, and that he was moving, from the feel of it uphill. He heard a couple of giggles off to his left and turned to look. Angie was sitting to his immediate left, Kim on her other side.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded of the girl he so hated. Kim just grinned wickedly. "When I get my hands on you…" Freddy began threateningly. He never did get to finish the sentence. At that moment the car reached the top of the hill, and raced down the other side. Freddy's sentence was lost in a high pitched, rather girlish scream. It blended rather well with the shrill laughter of the two girls. The car raced around the track, over camel back hills and corkscrew turns, Freddy clinging to the harness for dear life, both girls laughing at his reaction.

When the train finally pulled into the station the two girls rocketed out of their seats and raced away from the ride, still laughing shrilly. It took Freddy a little longer to get his bearings, but as soon as he did he was off after the girls, finding them easily since they weren't bothering to be quiet.

He appeared in front of them, glowering angrily. Kim was holding a picture, which she turned to show him. Freddy saw the three of them, Kim and Angie having the time of their lives, him screaming his head off. Apparently the roller coaster had pictures.

"Think that's funny?" he snarled.

"No, we think it's hilarious," Kim chirped.

Freddy caught sight of another roller coaster, this one a suspended one that spent plenty of time upside down. "See how funny you find this," he snarled, grabbing the two girls and dreamwalking them onto the ride. They were in the same positions as the last one, Freddy on the right, Angie next to him, and Kim on the far left.

"This is supposed to scare me, how?" Kim queried. But Angie had gone white as a sheet and was frantically trying to get out of the harness, which was an over the shoulder one so she wasn't having much luck. The train started to move and Angie began swearing. Freddy smirked, he remembered her mentioning that she hated upside down rides. The train rocketed out onto the track, and this time it was Angie shrieking and Freddy and Kim laughing their heads off. When the train came back to the station Angie staggered away from it, her hair all frizzy and sticking up anime style. Kim took one look and burst out laughing, tugging on Freddy's arm impatiently. He followed her down the stairs and to the photo booth. Kim printed out some copies of the picture from this ride and handed one to Freddy just as Angie came to join them.

"That's a blackmail quality picture right there," she sniggered.

"You are going to die," Angie hissed menacingly. Kim kept sniggering.

"So what ride is she afraid of?" Freddy whispered to Angie later as they walked around eating ice cream.

"Not one," Angie muttered back.

"There has to be one she doesn't like," Freddy hissed back.

"There wouldn't be one here," Angie responded. "She built the place." Freddy blinked, turning to stare at the girl ahead of them with wary respect. "Well what's something she doesn't like?" he asked as they all finished their ice creams. Angie sighed, a little exasperated. Then an idea struck her.

"Pickles. She hates pickles." Freddy smirked. Not a second later a barrel's worth of pickles rained down on Kim, who let out a startled exclamation. She picked up one of the pickles, stared at it for a second, then happily began to eat it. She scooped up a few more to save for later and began walking again. She was finishing the last one as they reached the next ride, Freddy glaring at the sniggering Angie the whole way.

They finished the rides in that area, the haunted house, the congo rapids, the bull whip, the log flume, and the runaway railroad. They went on the congo several times, making bets as to who would get the most wet. They were passing a lemonade stand when Freddy got another idea. This time it rained lemons over Kim. Angie covered her eyes.

"That was a bad move," she said to Freddy. Freddy smirked, then felt his eyes bug out of his head. Kim was slicing the lemons into quarters and happily sucking the juice. She filled a small bag with the lemon quarters and continued to walk, carelessly tossing the rinds over her shoulder and onto the ground, where they would disappear after a few seconds. Freddy's jaw was dangerously close to hitting the floor. The girl drank _straight lemon juice_? Even he wasn't that crazy. He promptly gave up trying to freak the girl out, his attempts seemed to just wind up freaking _him_ out, and give Angie something to laugh at. Though the last part he didn't mind so much.

The trio stayed at the park the rest of the night, Kim and Freddy actually getting along for once. Or, at least, not openly glaring death in the others direction. The girls eventually felt the pull that meant they were waking up.

"We must do this again sometime," Kim said conversationally just before she woke up. Angie stayed sleeping just a little longer than her friend.

"This was fun," she said to Freddy, then smirked. "I didn't know you had a fear of heights."

"Oh shut up," Freddy grumbled.

**Like I said, chapter makes no sense but is (or should be) rather funny. Hope you all enjoyed it.**

**And yes if you're all wondering, I do eat lemons. Yes I'm really weird, but what can I say? They taste good. **

**Angie: Yeah, you really are weird.**

**Me: Nothing compared to you though.**

**Freddy: (smirk)**

**Angie: You watch it mister! Don't make me put you back on that roller coaster.**

**Freddy: Nooooooooooooo! (High pitched scream)**

**Me: 0o**


	13. The Balance of Good and Evil

**Hi again. Glad you liked that last chapter, I had fun writing it. I love being weird. **

**Freddy: (whispering) That's because you are weird.**

**Me: You say something?**

**Freddy: No.**

**Me: (deathglare) Anyway here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I wonder what would happen if I refuse to say this? Let's find out.**

Chapter 13: The Balance of Good and Evil

Angie and Kim were in the living room watching t.v while Angie drew scenes from the night before, the picture of Freddy's first coaster ride right next to her, and Kim happily sucking away on a few leftover lemons. (Minds out of the gutter people.)

The two girls had finally shut up and stopped reliving the night over and over and were now settling down. For about five minutes anyway. That was about how long they lasted before something on t.v reminded them of something that happened the night before and they were off again.

"I still can't believe you and Freddy were getting _along_," Angie said later.

Kim snorted. "Don't get used to it. It was a one time thing." Angie shook her head, knowing her friend was probably right. Kim and Freddy hated each other too much to get along for more than a night at a time without literally going for each other's throats. As it was Freddy had resorted to pulling pranks, just because they backfired didn't mean he hadn't tried.

When Angie looked up again Kim was chewing her last lemon and consorting with a list in her hand. Angie recognized it as the list Kim had made up of possible places for Kristen to be. She shook her head. Her friend was like a puppy, when she sank her teeth into something she refused to let go.

A while later Angie looked up at the clock and jumped up.

"I'm going out, I'll be back later," she said hurriedly. Her friend didn't really appear to be paying attention, just waved a hand in Angie's general direction. Angie sighed. "I'm taking Godzilla and having him cooked for dinner." No response. Angie raised her eyebrows. Usually if someone threatened her iguana Kim at least looked at them. "I'm giving away your Phantom of the Opera cd's and DVD's," Angie tried. She received a vague "have fun" in response and promptly gave up. If Kim had been giving Angie even 1 of her attention her hands would have been around Angie's throat. _No one_ threatened Kim's Phantom collection. So, after putting on her converse, Angie left the apartment.

Kim went over the list in her hand for a while longer, narrowing down the places Kristen could be. Damn blast but it was taking forever to find the girl! The others hadn't been half so hard as this, not even Nancy! The possibility that Freddy could be moving Kristen around crossed Kim's mind. She wondered if he knew whatever it was that Kincade had wanted Kim to find out from Kristen. Kim quietly cursed Kincade. Why did he have to be so secretive?! After glancing over the list again she gave up and stood up.

Seeing her mistress get to her feet, Samara took the opportunity to twine through Kim's ankles in the hopes of being petted. Smiling, Kim reached down and scooped the cat into her arms, then walked into the kitchen to get her some treats. It wasn't too long after that when Angie got back.

Kim glanced up at her friend and found herself stunned speechless. Angie had gotten a hair cut. Her hair, which had already been short, was now close cropped to her head in an Annie Lennox style. (Angie really did get this haircut last week. But she told me she was going to so I didn't react this way in real life, just thought it might be cool here.) Angie was grinning like a cat with a bowl of cream at her silently gapping friend.

"A haircut?" Kim finally managed to articulate. "You got a haircut? What the hell Angie?" Angie just continued to smirk. Kim tried to say something else, failed, and gave up, throwing her hands in the air and leaving the room. Laughing, Angie followed her. She tried to imagine Freddy's reaction when he saw her. She really could not wait to fall asleep tonight.

When the two girls did get around to falling asleep, at about two in the morning, Angie found herself not on Elmstreet as she gotten so used to, but in the Power Plant. She hadn't been here since the first night she had met Freddy. Now her problem was finding him. The power plant was huge!

"Freddy? Freddy where the hell are you?" Angie screamed. She wandered around for about a minute, periodically yelling, before Freddy appeared in front of her. He opened his mouth to speak, but found himself gapping like a codfish. Angie began to smirk.

"What the hell did you cut your hair that short for?" he finally managed to ask. Angie shrugged.

"Felt like it. Now are we here for a reason or did you just feel like leaving the house?"

At her question Freddy smiled an utterly evil smile and began walking. "You'll see," he said, then laughed maliciously.

Feeling suddenly uneasy, Angie followed after the Dream Demon, wondering what he had up his sleeve tonight.

Kim, unlike Angie, did not emerge in the power plant. The power plant, however, was where she wanted to be, one of the places she wanted to search. But she had arrived instead at Weston Hills Psychiatric hospital. Well it couldn't hurt to give the place a cursory check over. So she did, but came out empty handed. She dreamwalked over to the power plant, not aware that that was where Freddy and Angie were. But luck appeared to be on her side that night for she did not run into either one of them.

She had already been through the power plant several times and really did not expect to find anything, but it couldn't hurt. She poked around before she realized something. Each time someone was brought to the power plant it looked slightly different. Nancy had entered through a door in her basement, others had just appeared inside, some had come through Freddy's house, and some (the stupid ones) had come in through the front door. But that meant that for each person there had to be a different level to the power plant's dreamscape, layer built upon layer. Kristen could still be here, just hidden in a different layer of the dreamscape.

Kim walked to the furnace room where Kristen had died and closed her eyes. She extended her senses to examine the dreamscape around her. Just as she had suspected there were different levels to it, some of them with the appearance of hastily being brought into being. Freddy was trying to throw her off, and he had been succeeding. Kim 'stepped' through a layer of the dreamscape to a new level. No Kristen. She 'stepped' to another one. Still no Kristen. Several more times she stepped through with no sign of the young dream master. Finally she stepped into a layer of the dreamscape that screamed of holding someone trapped. Literally. Someone was shrieking at the top of her lungs.

Kim waved her hand and the furnace door opened to reveal its occupant sitting in the middle, surrounded by flames that would come close but never quite touch her. Kim built up an invisible shield and stepped into the furnace. She seemed to step into another world. There were no walls in sight, and Kristen suddenly seemed a hundred miles away. With a touch of fear Kim wondered if she would have the endurance to hold her shield long enough to get to Kristen, free her, and get back out. Only one way to find out.

Kim waded through the flames, struggling against the dreamscape the whole way for it seemed determined to push her out. When she finally reached Kristen she was bathed in sweat, panting like a dog, and was swaying on her feet. Kristen was standing, appearing to be waiting for her, her head cocked to one side. She was looking Kim over appraisingly, apparently finding what she was looking for, for she nodded to herself. Well Kim could find out what the hell was up _after_ she got out of here. She extended a hand to Kristen, who accepted it.

"We need to leave," Kim said curtly when Kristen opened her mouth to speak. "Whatever it is, tell me after we get out." Seeming to agree with this, Kristen shrugged her shoulders and followed. Kim extended her shield to include Kristen, but instantly the strain doubled, and she nearly sobbed when she saw the distance that separated them from the furnace door. She started to walk, realizing that there was no way that she would be able to shield the two of them all the way back. Heck, she doubted she could shield herself for the distance. But Kristen solved the problem.

"Stop it," she said calmly. Kim glanced at her inquisitively. "Shielding me, I can do that on my own. Save your energy," Kristen responded. Kim reluctantly followed the girls advise, and saw that Kristen could shield herself quite well. The girl smiled. "You provided a base, I just built on that. But I couldn't have formed one on my own, not here. So thank you." Kim nodded, all she was able to do at the moment.

They finally reached the furnace door and clambered through it, both panting. The world then faded, as Kim had gotten used to but Kristen did not. She remained as solid looking as ever.

"How long have you been here. Freddy's dream I mean?" Kristen asked.

"Month or two," Kim responded, still bent over double, tying desperately to catch her breath.

"Do you have any idea how to control your powers?" Kristen asked.

Kim glanced up sharply, just how had Kristen known? She reluctantly shook her head. Kristen sighed.

"I passed my powers on to Alice, but here I still retain them. I never did learn how to control them, but after you die this information seems to come naturally," she said ruefully. "When it's not needed anymore."

"That why Kincade told me to find you? You can teach me to use them properly?" Kim queried.

"Probably," Kristen said. "When you freed Kincade, is that when you first realized just how strong you could be?"

Kim really didn't know how to respond to that one. "That was when I first really learned how to use them. Up till then I had been using them for little things, I hadn't realized just how much I could do. I still really don't know."

Kristen nodded, as if the answer didn't surprise her. "What do you know of the balance of the powers of good and evil?" she asked.

"That there has to be one in order for the other to exist," Kim responded. "There can't be a power of evil without a contrasting power of good and vice versa."

Kristen nodded again. "Exactly. Freddy was created as one of a kind, he wasn't supposed to exist, but the Dream Demons broke the rules. So fate threw out its own hand in the form on its own Dream Masters. It started with me, but I was defeated, it passed on to Alice, who won the fight but threw in the towel after she had Jacob. She was removed from the picture. Now the flag was passed to you. It wasn't chance that Freddy called you and your friend out of anyone else, it was your abilities that unknowingly dragged his summons to you."

Kim was left staring at Kristen in shock. She was the balance to Freddy's evil? How could she be? Evil did need a contrasting force, but her? She wasn't given time to dwell on it for long though. A look of fear suddenly passed across Kristen's face.

"Now's not the time," she said, grabbing Kim by the arm. As Kim opened her mouth she shushed her. "No. The dead have all the time in the world, but it's the living who need it. I'll still be here, but there's somewhere you need to be." She gave Kim a push, and Kim found herself falling, and landing safely back in the power plant. She looked around, confused. What had Kristen meant, the living don't have time? She wasn't left standing in the dark for long, as a shrill scream split the silence and answered her question. She took off.

Angie had followed Freddy around for a while, when he suddenly looked triumphant and vanished. He didn't go far, and Angie raced around the catwalk to where she saw him, peeved that he had left her behind. Looking down onto the catwalk below she saw what had caught Freddy's attention. A young girl was wandering around the lower catwalks, a look of utmost fear on her face. Angie's throat constricted. Freddy would kill the girl. No matter how much she liked Freddy seeing him commit murder wasn't something she wanted to see. But she couldn't face off with Freddy. While he couldn't, and wouldn't, hurt her he would push her aside and she didn't have the power to protect the girl. And she really didn't want to make Freddy angry at her.

In a panic, Angie took off, reaching ground level within very little time, the sound of the girl's shriek spurring her on. She all but ran into her friend as Kim came tearing out of no where. From the look on her friend's face, Kim knew all about the girl.

"Where is she?" she asked icily.

Angie hesitated for the briefest instant, then pointed up.

"The catwalks. That way." She dropped her arm again, insides squirming guiltily. Kim ran off, then paused.

"Kristen told me the girl was in the plant. Freddy won't here it from me that it was you who told me where," she said, then raced off again. Incredulous, Angie stared after her friend as she disappeared, presumably reappearing on the catwalks. She couldn't help but feel relieved. She really liked Freddy, but he knew that she would help her friend any way she could. All the same she was glad he didn't have to hear about this.

**Ouch. I put Angie in a tight position, didn't I?**

**Angie: No kidding. Being squashed between the couch and the wall isn't comfortable.**

**Me: (sweatdrop) Uh, Angie? That's not what I meant. And I didn't put you there anyway…**

**Freddy: (whistling innocently)**

**Me: Oh as if we're falling for that. Anyway read and review while I get Angie unstuck. **


	14. I Declare War

**Hiya! Hope you all had a good Christmas. We certainly did.**

**Freddy: Can I take off the Santa hat yet?**

**Angie: No.**

**Me: It matches well with your Christmas sweater.**

**Freddy! IT'S NOT A FING CHRISTMAS SWEATER!!!**

**Me: Whatever. Anyway enjoy my Christmas gift to you all. This chapter! And I expect a gift from each of you, a review! So read, enjoy, and review!**

**Disclaimer: You know nothing's happened to me yet, I think I'll keep ignoring this.**

**Freddy: (whispering) Someone report her.**

**Me: Don't make me tie you up with giftwrap!**

Chapter 14: I Declare War

Freddy stalked along the catwalks quietly, staring down at his terrified new prey. The girl looked to be about twelve, and had curly dark brown hair that was currently pulled back in a loose tail. She was frantically glancing around with wide, frightened blue eyes. Freddy smirked and ran his glove daggers along the railing, resulting in the high metal on metal screech that was his signature sound. The girl leapt nearly ten feet in the air and began to run. Freddy grinned evilly. The chase was on.

Freddy gleefully chased the girl around the catwalks, slowly herding her toward a dead end. He wasn't worried about Kim showing up, he knew that she was currently hunting for Kristen and he wasn't betting on her finding the young Dream Master for several hours at least, if she found her at all. Becoming bored with scaring the girl out of her wits, Freddy dreamwalked so he was standing in front of her. The girl backpedaled with a startled squawk, throwing her arms instinctively in front of her face. Freddy raised his glove, then brought it down swiftly, aiming for the girl's upraised arms.

Kim literally stepped out of no where behind the girl and threw out her arm, effectively blocking his shot. She threw her other arm around the girl and glared at Freddy, who glared right back at her. How the hell had she known the girl was here at all, much less where? She had been searching for Kristen. After a swift mental check of the furnace room Freddy let out a roar of rage and struck out again, a shot witch Kim once again blocked with her bare forearm. He snarled, his rage increasing at his failure to hurt the girl. He noticed that Kim was panting, as if she had run here. Kristen must have told her, Kristen would have known the girl was here.

He angrily stepped back to get better aim, but Kim used the instant to dreamwalk the girl away. Freddy screamed and instantly began searching for them, knowing that they wouldn't leave the plant. Kim would want to keep him in sight at all times.

Kim dragged the girl through the plant, dreamwalking through several different sections before coming to rest in the upper recesses of the catwalks. She then released her death-grip on the girl's shoulder and turned her around.

"I thought everyone in Springwood is on Hypnocil. What happened?" she asked the girl.

The girl numbly shook her head, staring down at the floor. Kim sighed.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Christine," the girl said quietly.

"I'm Kim, nice to meet you. Wish the circumstances were better though," Kim answered, trying to get the girl to laugh.

Christine did look up then, and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. It fast disappeared however at the suddenly intense look on Kim's face. She gripped Christine under the chin as the girl tried to turn her head away and traced the outline of a vivid bruise on her cheek.

"Where did you get this?" she asked, her voice suddenly hard. Christine shook her head, her eyes going wide.

"I…fell," she said quietly.

"Oh really? Is that why this mark is shaped like a hand?" Kim asked. Christine flushed and tried to duck her head. Kim's hand was still firmly under her chin however, and she was now carefully examining the rest of the girl's appearance. There were dark circles under her eyes, evidence that she hadn't been sleeping recently. Her pajamas were ratty, and becoming a bit too small for her. Kim tugged up one of the sleeves and found obvious evidence of other bruises.

"Christine why haven't you taken any hypnocil lately?" she asked gently.

Tears blurred the girl's eyes, but she blinked them back. "I have," she tried miserably.

"No you haven't. You haven't slept in days, and you're covered in bruises Chris, why?"

"My foster dad," Christine finally confessed quietly. "He spends his money on alcohol and lottery tickets. He never wanted me, he doesn't care what happens to me. And when he gets drunk, well…" She trailed off, but Kim could fill in the blanks. "He's not going to buy hypnocil for me. It'll just be a waste of good money," Christine continued bitterly. Kim nodded, biting her lip and thinking.

"What's your address?" she finally asked.

"Huh?"

"Your address. Where do you live?"

"1016 Maple Ave. Why?" Christine asked.

Kim smiled. "Because I'm getting you out of Springwood," she said quietly. Try not to go to sleep until I get there, okay?"

Christine nodded, hope shining in her eyes. "You'll take me out of Springwood?"

Kim nodded. "You can come with me and Angie. I'll take care of you," she promised. No sooner had she said that then they both heard Freddy's cry of triumph. Christine's look of fear said more than words could; Freddy was right behind them. She grabbed Christine's arm and ran, but Freddy always appeared in front of them.

Kim and Christine finally found themselves cornered at a dead end. Kim whipped around, protectively spreading arms trying futilely to hide the girl behind her. She could fight Freddy, he couldn't hurt her. But he could get away from her long enough to hurt Christine. Kim was cornered. It was either fight Freddy or keep running, but either option posed risks and Christine's body was to exhausted for her to wake up on her own. Kim glanced to the side, then seized the girl's arm.

"I'd like to apologize in advance for this," she said, then slammed Christine's arm against the hot pipe. Christine screamed as she felt her skin burn, and the next second she was sitting up on the couch in her living room, her arm clutched to her chest. She blinked a few times, then scurried off to apply medication to her arm and fix herself some hot coffee.

Kim, meanwhile, was still back at the power plant, her arm outstretched and clutching empty air where Christine's arm had been moments before. She and Freddy were staring at each other, absolute hate in both their eyes. Without warning they both flew for each other, Kim's double-bladed daggers suddenly in her hands. With them she effectively blocked Freddy's strikes, and struck back out at him.

"Bitch!" Freddy howled. "You stupid bitch! She was mine!"

"She is not yours," Kim hissed with equal fury. "I'm never going to let you hurt her! I declare war Freddy! Over her and over all the other souls you hold captured!"

They stopped their clash, each panting, each starring at the other with undisguised hate and fury.

"So be it," Freddy hissed. "Let the war begin." He vanished then, presumably off to find Angie and rant.

Kim, however, had another destination in mind. Her mind traveled to Kristen with a pang, she would have to wait till later to talk to the former Dream Master again. Right now there was something else she had to do. She wouldn't be able to just walk into Springwood and adopt Christine, the people would never let anyone go that easily, afraid of what the outside world would find out about their town. Decades of secrets lay buried and they would not risk their being discovered for the life of just one girl, they would just as soon let Freddy kill her, or lock her away in Westin Hills. Kim knew from Freddy vs. Jason that they had gotten rid of any records she would be able to use. In the real world that is, but here in Dreamworld the records were hers for the finding. She walked off on search for any useful records. If the people of Springwood would not hand the girl to her without a fight, by God would she give them a fight!

Angie was restlessly pacing on the bottom floor of the power plant. She wanted desperately to know what was going on in the upper floors, but didn't want to venture up to find out. Freddy appeared in front of her suddenly, in an absolute raging fury. The rage in his eyes caused Angie to back up a step, a tendril of fear creeping up her spine. Freddy looked right at her, sensing that ounce of fear, then turned away. Angie no longer feared for her friend's safety, or the girl's for that matter. But she was in shock. She had shown fear, however slight and Freddy had ignored it. Angie stared after him, her jaw all but dropping to the floor.

"You coming or not?" Freddy snapped, still in a raging temper but not willing to leave Angie behind. Angie almost smiled, and followed after Freddy. They went back to 1428 Elm St. and Angie drew for the rest of the night while Freddy ranted, tearing the living room apart. Angie woke up with Freddy's angry screams still resounding through her head.

She wandered into the kitchen for breakfast and found Kim packing food into a bag, several heavy folders piled on the table.

"Going somewhere?" Angie asked her friend.

"I'm going to Springwood," Kim said curtly.

"Springwood?!" Angie exclaimed.

"Yes. Want to come with?" Kim asked.

"Yeah I want to go! But why are you going now?"

"Get your stuff. I'll explain on the way."

"What's in the folders?" Angie asked before she went to pack a bag.

Kim grinned maliciously. "Enough info to blackmail that town into the next millenium."

**Heh heh. I love that last comment. I never did like the way Springwood handled the Freddy situations anyway, tearing into them will be fun. Let me know what you think, reivew! I'll update as soon as I can, after I finish giftwrapping Freddy. The first one to review gets to come visit and bother him without fear of retribution! (We're blindfolding him.) Just don't try to kiss him or Angie will have your head on a Christmas dish before you can blink. Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!!**


	15. The Neutrality Resolution

**I am SO sorry it's been so long since the last update! (grovels for forgiveness)**

**Freddy: That's pathetic.**

**I've been MEANING to update, but things just kept coming up, and I had midterms all this week so I was studying all LAST week. I REALLY haven't had the time so please forgive me, I'll try to update faster from now on.**

**Do you know I am really surprised that no one threatened me with death over that cliffhanger in the chapter before last? I was rather afraid of the death threats I would get.**

**Freddy: (grumpy) I was looking forward to them.**

**Me: Yeah well, you would. Where's Angie?**

**Freddy: Uh, I don't know?**

**(muffled voice) let me out!**

**Me: YOU STUFFED HER IN THE OVEN?!**

**Freddy: (to readers) Uh, help?**

**Disclaimer: (too busy killing Freddy right now)**

Chapter 15: The Neutrality Resolution

"So just how far away is Springwood?" Angie asked after a few hours.

"We won't get there until tomorrow, we're staying at a hotel tonight. I have to be in Dreamworld just in case Christine falls asleep again."

"You really think she will?" Angie asked incredulously. "After what happened last night?"

"I wouldn't put it past the people from Springwood to slip her sleeping pills," Kim said darkly. "It's been done before hasn't it? That was how Kristen died after all." She had a point, Angie thought. She sighed, bored from the lack of activity. Aparently, so was Samara, who butted Angie's hand, demanding to be petted. Reaching for the cd storage case with one hand, she flipped through them until she came to her Slipknot cd and put it in the cd player, laying her back and closing her eyes as the music came on, scratching her friend's cat behind the ears with her other hand. Kim glanced over with arched eyebrows, shrugged, and turned her attention back to the road.

They finally found a motel around seven that night, paid for a room, and got dinner from the diner across the street. Before they went back to the hotel Kim ducked into the drug store, but came back empty handed.

"What were you looking for?" Angie asked, curious.

"Hypnocil," her friend answered. "They don't carry it, I can't even order it."

Angie snorted. "And that surprises you?"

Her friend shook her head. "No, not really. I was just hoping they would have it, it would make my life easier." She smiled wryly. "I think the world is out to get me."

Angie laughed. They got back to the hotel, Kim sneaking Samara into the room and hanging the "Do not disturb" sign on the door, and started flipping through the channels. Angie started to draw for lack of anything better to do, and Kim settled for watching CSI. It was an episode she hadn't seen yet so she was able to focus her mind on something other than Freddy and Springwood for once. But when the show was over she tried to go to sleep and found herself unable to do so. She flipped to the sci-fi channel, which was airing old X-Files episodes. She watched two of them, earlier episodes. She had seen the first one but the second she had never seen before, and she found that she still had a childish crush on David Duchovney who played special agent Fox Mulder.

The two episodes ended at midnight and Kim resolutely turned off the television and tried to go to sleep, but she tossed and turned for a while, too tightly strung to fall unconscious.

A sudden idea struck her and she stood up. She couldn't believe she had forgotten! Angie watched while she rifled through her bag, coming up triumphantly holding her cd player. With a contented sigh she snuggled under the covers, hugged her Shadow the Hedgehog plushy, and turned on the cd player, setting it to play her favorite song before replaying the rest of the cd. As the soothing music washed over her she finally fell asleep, a small smile on her face, still clutching her plushy, Samara contentedly curled at her feet.

Angie shook her head as she put her drawings away. Kim was listening to her Phantom of the Opera cd of course. She always used to listen to it before going to sleep, but with the whole Freddy business, then Christine showing up the night before she hadn't been listening to it lately. Angie wondered if that was half the problem with her friend not getting rested enough at night, that music had a weird, soothing affect on her. She shrugged, putting a Slipknot cd into her cd player and falling asleep herself.

She emerged in Dreamworld on the catwalks of the Power Plant. She sighed to herself. Freddy was taking no chances, he was lying in wait just in case Christine did fall asleep again.

_Speak of the devil_ Angie thought as Freddy stepped out of thin air in front of her. He nodded a greeting, seeming to debate over saying something to her, shook his head, and gestured for her to follow him. Angie did, following as he headed for the upper recesses of the catwalks.

He lounged against one of the rails about halfway along, looking amused as Angie cautiously peered over the sides. She hated heights with a passion. She sat down on the catwalk next to him, carefully leaning back into the support rail. Freddy was tempted to make the rail disappear, just so that he could scare her, then pull her back up and laugh. He decided however, upon reflection, that he didn't want to. He recalled her threat at the movie-theater and thought that if he pulled something like that, she would likely do worse. Oh well.

"What are you thinking about?" Angie asked him suddenly.

Casting his mind about frantically, not about to tell her what he had really been thinking, he came up with "Just wondering what that bitch of a friend of yours is up to."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Angie look to the side, clearly uncomfortable. _She knows_, he thought. He was tempted to ask but decided not to, she wouldn't tell him anyway. He wondered if Kim was asking her whatever it was he planned. Well he always took Angie by surprise, so she never knew anyway. He would have to do something about this situation, it was becoming rather tightly strung. Angie couldn't keep being pulled between love of her friend and loyalty to him.

"Just thinking about old victims," he finally said. Angie seized the topic gratefully.

"Yeah, you've made some pretty spectacular kills," she said, then frantically tried to think of a victim she could talk about that Kim hadn't rescued yet. "Like Jennifer. Putting her head through the television, that was classic." Freddy chuckled, he had never liked Jennifer, she had been so annoying with all her talk about becoming a tv star. Well, she was on television now.

"Or that girl Sheila," he said smirking. Angie looked puzzled.

"Sheila?"

"The asthmatic," he clarified. He had been rather proud of that kill, sucking all the breath out of the girl until she was no more than a skeleton. So he was rather surprised when the smile disappeared from Angie's face and she frowned.

"Oh yeah. The girl you kissed," she said sulkily.

"I'd hardly have said kiss," Freddy said, really confused. "Reverse CPR maybe."

Angie's scowl deepened and she stood up. "There's something I need to do," she snapped and stomped off. Freddy was confused beyond belief.

"What just got into her?" he muttered.

"Tell me, are all men as stupid as you, or are you just special?" Freddy whipped around at the sound of that so-hated voice to see his archenemy casually leaning the guard -rail. This time Freddy really did try to banish it, but was met with resistance. He snarled, this girl really took no chances.

"You didn't answer my question," Kim said. "Are you really that blind, or do you need me to spell things out for you letter by letter?"

"What are you talking about, bitch?" Freddy snapped angrily.

"Angie, you bonehead," Kim replied just as heatedly.

"She walked off on her own," Freddy said defensively.

Kim rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Maybe you are really that stupid then, but ignorance is no excuse to me," she began in a deadly hiss, her eyes narrowing. "If you ever hurt her I'll pursue you should all hell bar my way and put you through a thousand tortures for every second she hurts, you understand?"

"I can't hurt her," he snapped aggressively. Then he muttered rather sulkily, "I can't hurt either one of you, remember?"

"There are other ways of hurting someone then with weapons," Kim snapped, eyes flashing. "Play stupid if you want, but my threat stands firm." She had stepped away from the rail and taken several aggressive steps forward, and despite himself Freddy was feeling rather threatened. Then Kim shook her head once, stepping back to a less offensive position.

"That wasn't what I originally came here for," she said. "Though it is about Angie."

"What about her?" Freddy growled. If this girl thought she could keep him from spending his nights with her she had another thing coming, Dream Master or not.

"This war is between you and me," Kim said. "Whatever happens from here on out, Angie stays out of it. I don't tell her my plans, you don't tell her yours. I don't question her about you, you don't question her about me. Whatever fights we have, if she's there at all, she stays on the sidelines. And at the end, whichever of us wins of loses, she has nothing to do with it."

Freddy stared at the girl. He had wanted to solve this little problem, and here his enemy comes up with the perfect solution. While he hated her for it Angie came to mind again. He knew she must have had something to do with Kim finding Christine from the way she had been tip toeing around his presence with a guilty flush on her face last night. Surprisingly to him he wasn't, he couldn't get, angry at her for it. He didn't know why, but she was the first person he wanted to protect, rather then tear apart. So he nodded at the young Dream Master before him.

Kim stuck out her right hand, and Freddy took it.

"Deal?" Kim asked.

"Deal." He answered. He experimentally squeezed her hand, but his blades didn't pierce her skin. Like usual. He resisted the urge to snarl, released Kim's hand and stepped back. Kim vanished, having done what she had come here for she wanted out of the evil Dream Master's presence as fast as she could get.

The next day the girl's woke up, and Angie paid for the room while Kim took their luggage, smuggling Samara within it, back to the car. She climbed into the driver's seat as Angie walked out. They pulled out of the parking lot, morning mist slightly shading the road. The silence almost instantly began to strangle the two of them.

"How long till we get there?" Angie asked.

"Several hours," Kim responded. Angie sighed. They had to put on music. She reached almost automatically for the cd storage, then stopped, recalling the night before in the hotel room.

"Could you pick a cd?" she asked Kim. Kim turned to look at Angie, surprised.

"You sure?" she asked, but Angie didn't miss the grateful flash in her eyes.

"Yeah, you pick them today," she said.

Kim grinned almost evilly. "You asked for this remember," she said. She fished out her Phantom cd, the original Broadway cast, full version, and put in the first cd. Angie also smirked, putting on her headphones and turning on her portable cd player.

"I never said I was going to listen to it, I just said you could pick." Kim laughed as the music started. She finished that cd, then put in the version from the movie. It hadn't yet finished when she was poking Angie's shoulder.

Angie opened her eyes, then let out a small whoop. They were on the border of Springwood. They were finally here. Kim began to drive the car again.

"Past the point of no return," rang from the cd player just as they crossed the border.

_We certainly are, at that_, Kim thought. _We most certainly are_.

**Well hope you liked this chapter now that I FINALLY updated. I'll get the next chapter up just as soon as I can. Oh, I'm seeing Phantom again tomorrow in theaters!!! It's my third time, hehehe. Yes, I am obsessed.**

**Now please excuse me, I have to go cook for these psychos I live with.**

**Freddy: I already threw something in the oven.**

**Me: (distrustfully) You did?**

**(Muffled voice): HELP!!!**

**Me: YOU PUT ANGIE BACK IN THE OVEN AND TURNED IT ON!? GET BACK HERE!!! **


	16. A Little Thing Called Blackmail

**Heyla. Sorry it takes so long for me to update but I've been getting homework up the wazoo and now I work on Saturdays before I go back to art class, so I've been busy. Oh, and I get report cards on Tuesday . Pray for me.**

**Freddy: Let her parents kill her, let her parents kill her.**

**Me: I DIDN'T ASK YOU! Oh, and I haven't forgotten about the promise from a few chapters ago. So all of you who have reviewed please come over!**

**Freddy: WHAT?**

**Reviewers: (Crash through door) **

**Freddy: NNOOOOOO! (runs to hide)**

**Me: Well you deserve it! **

**Disclaimer: Why would I _want_ to own Freddy Krueger?**

Chapter 16: A Little Thing Called Blackmail

Angie watched as her friend wandered into the drugstore and began poking around. Angie turned her attention to the magazine rack and began rifling for anything interesting. Finding nothing she began to comb the isles. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kim approach the counter and turned to look down another isle, then called her friend over in a startled squawk. Frowning, Kim walked over to see what Angie was looking at.

"I was about to go ask if I could order Hypnocil," she said upon reaching Angie.

"You don't need to order it," Angie said in a hushed whisper. Bug-eyed, the two girls stared at an entire shelf full of the dream prevention drug. "Think we're in the right town?" Angie asked sardonically.

Kim snorted, grabbing a few bottles. "What other town would sell a drug on its shelves that's not even FDA approved?" she asked. Kim walked up to the counter and paid for the bottles she had, then the two left the store. Kim glanced around hopelessly, completely lost. She was bad when it came to directions and she didn't have a town map on hand.

"Well great. Now where do I go?" she muttered to herself.

"Well that would depend on where you _want_ to go," someone said behind her. Kim turned around to see a teenage boy with blond hair grinning at her. "New in town?" he asked. She nodded reluctantly.

"I need to get to 1016 Maple Ave," she said. "Do you know where that is?" The boy rolled his eyes.

"You don't live in this small town all your life and not know how to get around," he replied. "Maple's not that far from here. Walk about three blocks, turn right and walk about two more. Can't miss it."

"Great," Kim said. "One last question. Where's the police station and the courthouse?"

The boy arched his eyebrows. "They're both in the north of town," he said. "Look that way," he said, gesturing. "See that building on the hill in the distance? That's Weston Hills. The station and courthouse are around there. Hope you have a car, that's quite a distance."

Kim nodded distractedly. Thanking him, she walked off. It didn't take her long to reach Maple Avenue and when she reached it she whistled in surprise. All the houses here more run down than the rest of town. She found the address she was looking for with relative ease, frowning when saw the dilapidated state of the porch. She was beginning to wonder whether to just go knock on the door when it opened and a man stepped out. He was slightly overweight and his clothes were filthy and crumpled. Kim wrinkled her nose; she could smell the stale scent of alcohol from where she was standing.

"You want something?" the man snapped aggressively.

"Yes I do, actually," Kim replied coldly. "I want to know if Christine is home, I want to speak with her."

The man let out a cold laugh. "No she's not home. The little slut is off in town somewhere. I don't know what you'd want with her." He laughed again, and the sound set Kim's teeth on edge.

"I'm interested in adopting her, actually," she said in a hiss. The man stopped laughing and now regarded her angrily.

"Adopting her!" he raged. "You want to adopt that ungrateful little brat? Let me tell you something girl, you'd be setting yourself up for a headache even _if_ I wanted to let you take her."

"You keep complaining about her, why wouldn't you be glad that I wanted her?" Kim asked.

"Who else would keep my house clean?" he asked, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. For a moment Kim saw crimson, she shook her head to clear it while her hands curled into fists.

Biting back an angry retort she merely said, "I'll be in touch with you later," and stalked off. She had just rounded a corner when she all but ran into someone.

"Oh excuse me! I didn't see you!" started the young girl before her voice faltered and faded off into silence.

"Chris!" Kim exclaimed. She fished around in her pocket and extracted two of the hypnocil bottles she had purchased earlier. "Here," she said, pressing the bottles into Christine's hands. "Get some sleep tonight, okay?"

Christine gapped at the bottles, tears of relief springing to her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much." Kim chuckled and ruffled the girl's hair.

"Don't mention it. Saves me worrying about you every night. Oh and Chris, if you ever need anything just come find me. I'm in the only motel in town, room 1E. Okay?" The girl nodded. "Hey Chris. Chin up, I'll have you out of here in no time, alright?" Kim said, giving Christine a quick hug. She turned then and headed back for the Drug Store where she had left her car parked, turning to give a last wave.

She drove to the police station, which wasn't hard to find after all. She gathered up all the files she had collected in Dreamworld and got out of the car. She let herself in and walked over to the front desk. The man behind it, who was reading a paper, looked up at her.

"I'm interested in adopting, who do I speak to?" she asked, getting right to the point.

"You want the courthouse across the street, but you can speak to the chief first if you like," he said. Kim nodded, and the man rang the chief up. He then went back to his paper, motioning lazily down the hall. Rolling her eyes and muttering about 'Dunkin Doughnuts Cops' under her breath Kim walked down the hall, pausing when she reached the chief's office and rapping on the door. At the 'come in' she opened it and showed herself in. The chief stood to greet her, and Kim noticed with a slight shock that he looked like the chief from Freddy vs. Jason.

The chief stood, holding out his hand. Kim took it.

"Kimberly," she said.

"Brian says you're interested in adopting a child," he started. _No_, Kim thought. _I'm interested in adopting an adult_. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I see you have information on a specific child," the chief said, looking at her folders. Kim nodded, handing him Christine's file. The chief started flipping through it and for a second his eyes flashed. If Kim hadn't been watching him so closely she wouldn't have seen it, but she knew that she was going to have to fight tooth and nail for Christine.

"Well, I see you've done plenty of research on this girl," the chief started again.

"I've met her," Kim cut in.

"Well in any case I don't think the courts will support you taking her. She's in a very good foster home."

"Oh is she?" Kim asked. "You know that's funny. I never knew that the abusive foster parents were the good ones." The chief began to look uncomfortable, but his expression hardened.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you," he said.

"Can't or won't?" Kim asked, any trace of a smile gone from her face. "You don't care what happens to Christine, all you care about is keeping your town's little secrets."

"You need to leave now," the chief said coldly. "You can show yourself out."

Kim stood up, but instead of leaving she slammed the rest of her folders on the chief's desk.

"Look through those," she ordered. Staring at her suspiciously, the chief complied. Kim watched in satisfaction as his face slowly drained of color.

"Where did you get these? How did you get these? You couldn't have-"

"Why?" Kim asked. "Because you destroyed all these files?"

"What is this?" the chief asked, anger in his eyes.

"This?" This is a little thing called blackmail," Kim said, a triumphant smile forming on her mouth. "If you don't help me adopt this girl and get her out of this town copies of these files go to the press, and to the government. I'm sure they'll _love_ some of the things in here. Murder, cover-up, children held in a psychiatric center like prisoners. Oh the press will have a field day." The chief's face was completely ashen by now. "You may have had these files destroyed or hidden," Kim hissed, "but I have ways of finding things I want, and I know far more about this town and its 'secrets' than you can even begin to guess. I know what you're hiding, what you've been keeping under wraps for years. I know why all the children in town are on hypnocil." The chief began to sputter.

"Impertinent!" he began, but Kim cut him off.

"Yes I am," she snapped. "Now either you give me this girl or I reveal these to the world and get the girl anyway, it's your choice! I'm not stupid, I know how to deal with this situation that you apparently don't have a clue about! If left here, she'll die. I know you don't care but I do, and Freddy's not winning this time, not if I can help it!"

The chief stared for a few seconds. "You know about-"

"I've met him," Kim said coldly. "I've met him, I've fought him, I've won. I can protect this girl where you obviously can't. You don't give a damn, I know that, but I do. And I won't leave her here to be butchered because you're too stubborn to care!" she snapped.

The chief sighed in defeat. "I really don't have a choice, do I?" he asked wearily.

"No you don't," Kim said.

"Alright then. Come with me." The chief gathered up Kim's files and walked with her out of the building and across the street to the courthouse. He exchanged a few hushed words with someone, and was shown in to see a judge while Kim waited. She was waiting for about an hour when the chief and the judge came out to see her.

The judge frowned down at her. "You do know the responsibilities adopting entails?" he asked.

"I'm aware of everything, I wouldn't be here otherwise," Kim said, and the judge frowned at her weighted words. Kim smiled tightly when she saw he was carrying her files.

"I know where you got these," the judge said and Kim arched her eyebrows. "I don't know how you stumbled upon Krueger but we have been trying to keep him away for a long time."

"And not succeeding," Kim interrupted. "And forgetting about the souls he already had trapped, nobody ever remembers them."

The judge frowned at her. "It will take a few days for all the legal procedures. I don't want you causing a stir in the meantime." He narrowed his eyes. "I've seen those movies. I know what you think of us. We did the best we could with the knowledge we had."

"You knowingly condemned innocents," Kim snapped. "And I'm the one left cleaning up the mess you left. Now, if that's all then we're done here. Let me know when I can take Chris home with me, I expect your call as soon as possible." With those parting words she turned on her heel and left. The judge and the chief exchanged hopeless looks.

Kim left the courthouse with a feeling of intense satisfaction. She decided to hunt down Angie while she explored the town. And she exactly where her friend would be. Laughing, she drove her car towards Elmstreet, where it had all begun.

**Kind of a pointless chapter, the next one will be better, I promise. Oh, and I know nothing about adopting or legal procedures or anything. So I'm just making this up. Hope you all enjoyed meeting Freddy.**

**Freddy: XX**

**Me: Looks like he had a great time! Read and review!**


	17. Raziel

**Heyla. (That's getting kinda old isn't it?) I am, once again, REALLY sorry about the long wait between updates. This was a really hard chapter to work through, and I have been getting a lot of school work so please bear with me, I really do try.**

**Freddy: Yeah right.**

**Me: Do you want me to invite the reviewers back?**

**Freddy: Shutting up now.**

**Me: Thank you. Anyway I think I'm gonna stop saying "I'll try to update as soon as possible" because I think you all tire of hearing it, then it takes a week or two for me to get off my lazy bum and update again. So that's the last time I'll say it. Oh and speaking of reviewers, welcome over Imperfection07! **

**Freddy: You said no more reviewers!**

**Me: I lied.**

**Disclaimer: This is chapter 17. If you have not caught on to the fact that I do not own Freddy Krueger by now then I'm going to have to hurt you. Everyone has a right to be stupid but that's abusing the privilege.**

Chapter 17: Raziel

After Kim left the drugstore Angie too decided it was time to go somewhere, and like her friend she knew where she wanted to go. But unlike her friend she didn't need to ask for directions, she knew exactly how to get there. She was tempted to take the car, then remembered that she didn't have the keys. Grumbling slightly she walked off, and after a while she arrived on Elmstreet.

She smirked, staring down the peaceful street, imagining it in Dreamworld where it was always night and it looked like the Elmstreet straight from the first movie. To see it now in real life was nothing short of strange. She wandered down the street, looking for one particular house. When she reached 1428 she stopped, studying the house with a critical eye, her hands jammed in her pockets. It looked a lot different from when she visited it in Dreamworld, or maybe it was just the absence of the chanting, jump-roping girls and the eerie green glow one observed when watching the house from the outside.

The modern 1428 Elmstreet house was painted a pale gray with black trimming and door. There were no toys in the yard, which was slightly overgrown, a hand mower lying in one corner. The rose bushes, which were dying, were in serious need of pruning. But other than that the house looked as if it had an occupant. There were curtains in the window for one thing, and mail was deposited on the stoop.

Angie had a sudden desire to see the inside of the house. She looked carefully up and down the street. Not seeing anyone she sneaked up to the front of the house and tried to peer through the windows, but the heavy blackout curtains prevented her from seeing in. She wandered around the side of the house to those windows and met the same problem.

_What is this guy, a vampire?_ Angie thought to herself grumpily. She reached the backyard and nearly screamed in frustration. There were more blackout curtains on the back windows as well. Angie eyed the trellis that stretched from the ground floor to the second thoughtfully. There had been no car in the driveway and the curtains were drawn. Angie had doubts that anyone was home. After a quick glance to the house next door and discovering no prying neighbors with their noses to the windows Angie took a deep breath and began to climb the trellis. Carefully testing her weight on each rung before continuing Angie finally reached the second floor window. The possibility that the window would be locked hadn't occurred to her, but she now reached a hand towards it with great trepidation. But to her relief the window slid up, albeit slowly, after a little pushing and wiggling. She opened the window wide enough to admit herself and forced herself past the curtain, letting out a muffled yelp as she crumpled in an awkward heap on the floor. Grumbling, Angie stood up, alternating between rubbing her sore head, shoulder, and hip.

She looked around, suddenly overflowing with glee. She was in one of the smaller bedrooms, the one Lori had used in Freddy vs. Jason, which now looked like it was used for storage. Angie walked out into the hallway looking up and down. The floor was carpeted black and the walls painted red. Adorning the walls were posters to old horror movies. Angie wandered around checking out all the rooms and comparing them to Freddy's home in Dreamworld. She went downstairs, carefully checking the rooms to make sure that no one was down there. Then she explored with ease, finding the kitchen, living room and den. She noted that the primary colors around her were red, black, and bright green, though not as much green. She was curious, but didn't want to stay too long and risk getting caught. She doubted even Kim could bust her out of jail. She went back upstairs and opened the door the master bedroom. This room finally confirmed her belief that Freddy's house was now owned by a goth. The room was entirely black, from floor, to walls, to ceiling. Posters for heavy metal bands were roughly taped on the wall, an electric guitar was haphazardly leaning in a corner, and junk was piled in random places about the room. Angie walked around, examining her surroundings with a grin. What would Freddy say about a modern day goth owning his house? With a chuckle Angie left the room and slipped back into the storage room where she had entered the house. She had the window open and was carefully putting one foot on the trellis when someone spoke behind her, scaring her straight out of her skin.

"It might have been smarter to try the downstairs windows. Or were you going for dramatic effect?"

Angie whipped her head around, eyes wide as a deer trapped in headlights. _Oh shit_, she silently swore over and over. _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit_. Finishing her panicked mental rant Angie took a good look at the man behind her. He looked like he was in his early twenties, had spiked black hair, and his skin was pale to the point that Angie wondered when he had last been outside. He wore black clothing, baggy pants about three sizes too big, and a black tee-shirt with the word Rammstein across the front in white letters. He wore black eye shadow above and below his eyes, a spiked choker and chain necklace, double spiked brackets on each wrist and enough rubber bracelets to almost reach his elbows. His eyebrow, lip, and ears were pierced. He quirked an eyebrow at Angie, who was staring.

"See something you like?" he asked with a smirk. With a slight blush, Angie turned her head.

"No," she said shortly, moving to continue her journey out the window. With a sigh the man crossed the room and jerked Angie back into it, firmly closing the window. Angie crossed her arms and glared at him.

"I'm not having you fall off the trellis and breaking something. It would be too much of a bother to have to call an ambulance," he said. He crossed the room again with a gesture to Angie to follow. "Name's Raziel," he said suddenly.

Angie blinked, startled into giving her own name. "Angie," she said. Raziel gave no indication that he'd heard her, walking down the hall to the master bedroom and opening the door. Angie stood in the doorway, refusing to go in while the owner was there. Raziel was shifting through some junk on his dresser top, finally stepping away and tossing something at Angie who caught it, startled. She looked down to see a key nestled in her hands.

"Next time you want to drop by, use the door," Raziel drawled. "It presents less of a hazard than climbing the trellis, Hollywood be damned." Angie couldn't help but smirk at his drawl tone.

"And who says I would want to come back?" she asked.

"You certainly seemed interested enough while exploring, and reluctant enough to leave," Raziel said with a shrug, crossing the room and closing the door.

Sputtering, Angie followed. She could have sworn that no one was home and she certainly hadn't felt anyone watching her. Raziel smirked at her, walking down the stairs and into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and removed two sodas. He opened them, pushing one across the table to Angie and taking a swig of his own. Angie finally regained the use of her vocal cords.

"Do you normally give your house keys to the people who climb in through your windows?" she asked sarcastically. Raziel chuckled.

"No, you're the first."

"I feel so special," Angie drawled sarcastically, picking up her soda and taking a sip, merely as something to do to calm her frazzled nerves. Raziel laughed again.

"Living like a recluse gets boring. But then again this town is boring as hell."

"Then move," Angie suggested. Raziel grimaced.

"Can't," he said shortly. Angie raised her eyebrows.

"You can't-"

"Just drop it, okay?" Raziel snapped shortly. Angie relented and took a sip of soda. She glanced at her watch and swore colorfully. Raziel glanced over at her with raised eyebrows.

"Nice language," he commented. Angie ignored him, finishing her soda as fast as she could, and getting hiccups in the process. She held her breath to get rid of them, impatiently tapping her foot. When she finally did she turned to Raziel.

"I have to meet a friend of mine, I'm late," she said hurriedly. Raziel finished his soda, crushed the can, and tossed it carelessly behind him.

"Where you meeting her?" he asked.

"Outside, actually," Angie replied. Raziel chuckled.

"I'll walk you out," Raziel said, gesturing for her to go to the door.

They went outside, Raziel squinting in the bright sunlight, taking longer to get used to it than Angie. Angie again found herself wondering just how often the guy got out. It was a few minutes after that someone hailed her from down the block. Angie turned to see her friend jogging towards her.

"Hey Ang," Kim said cheerfully, coming to a halt in front of Angie. Then her eyes strayed to Raziel. The two of them became tense, their eyes narrowing at the sight of each other in instant dislike.

"Who's this?" Kim asked politely.

"Raziel," Angie said. "He lives here," she explained, gesturing to Freddy's house. Kim nodded, as if she had expected the answer.

"How did you two come across each other?" she asked.

"She broke in," Raziel said, sounding bored. Angie flushed, while Kim's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"You broke in?" she asked, disbelieving. "How?"

"She climbed the trellis in the back," Raziel explained, smirking. Kim started laughing.

"You're afraid of heights Angie! You climbed the trellis?" overcome by laughter at that point, Kim was unable to add anything else. By that point Angie's face was giving off enough heat to fry an egg.

"Shut up," she muttered, then glanced around. "Where's the car?" she asked.

"Back at the hotel," Kim said, wiping her eyes.

"You walked here!" Angie all but screamed.

"Sure," Kim shrugged. "It's a nice day, I need the exercise, and walking is a great way to explore the town."

Grumbling, Angie walked past her chuckling friend. It took her a few moments to realize that Raziel was walking right behind her.

"You stalking me now?" Angie asked shortly. He shrugged, looking bored, his hands jammed in his pockets.

"Nothing better to do. So why not?"

Angie noticed that Kim was still glaring daggers at Raziel and found herself wondering at her friend's instant dislike of the goth. Usually her friend was more open to people, far more than she herself was at any rate. So she wondered why her friend seemed so distrusting of Raziel at first sight.

At that moment Raziel put his foot out in front of him, then seemed to overstep his mark. With a startled cry he caught himself, hopping a pace or two then glaring at the ground behind him.

"You okay?" Angie asked.

"Stupid spider," Raziel muttered. Looking back Angie saw a spider standing peacefully on the sidewalk, right where Raziel had been about to put his foot before he tripped.

"Why not just step on it?" Kim asked suddenly. "Would have saved you some fancy footwork," she added. Raziel pursed his lips, his expression tightening before turning and stalking off. Kim was smirking triumphantly. Confused, Angie chased after Raziel, Kim following behind lazily. Within moments Raziel had gained back his cocky demeanor, the spider event apparently forgotten, or just being ignored in the hopes that the girls would forget. Angie seriously doubted that Kim would, however.

The three of them ate diner together at one of the diners in town, an old hamburger shop. It was made to resemble a diner from the 50's, kind of like a Johnny Rocket's. Raziel walked with the girls back to their motel, then turned and headed back home. Angie stared after him for a few moments before closing the door. Turning, she saw her friend smirking at her.

"What?" she asked defensively.

"You _broke in_?" Kim asked, highly amused. Angie felt her face go red.

"Shut up," she muttered again heatedly. Kim just continued to snicker. She turned on the television, the both of them curling up in their beds to watch The Crow, which was showing on the sci-fi channel. Samara leapt onto Kim's bed to curl contentedly at her feet. After the movie the girls were flipping through the channels, not finding anything when a knock sounded at the door.

Curious, Kim tossed the remote to Angie and opened the door. A young girl was looking fearfully over her shoulder, curly chestnut hair in disarray. Two cats twined worriedly through the girl's ankles.

"Christine?" Kim squawked. The girl turned to face her, eyes brimming with tears.

"I need help," she whispered, before bursting into tears and throwing herself into Kim's startled arms.

**Hope you all enjoyed, please read and review! Oh, and Raziel is Angie's character, she came up with the idea for him. If you want to see a picture of him, click on this link. http:**


	18. Kristen's Advice

**Heyla! Guess what? I got to go see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway for the third time last night! Me and my friend got Orchestra seats for half price! The view was great! And we got to meat the actors afterward and get signatures, and we took pictures with Hugh Panero! (He plays the Phantom.) It was absolutely FANTASTIC! Me and Theresa had such a great time!**

**Angie: She's been hyper all yesterday and hasn't calmed down yet.**

**Me: YYEEEEEEEEE! (Doing happy dance)**

**Freddy and Angie: (hiding behind couch) **

**Freddy: (staring in shock/mild fear) Does she _ever_ run out of energy? **

**Angie: Not when she's on a Phantom high.**

**Disclaimer: Too busy bouncing off the ceiling in pure bliss. See earlier chapters. **

Chapter 18: Kristen's Advice

Kim led the hysterical Christine over to the chair on the other side of the room and sat her down, followed by the two cats that had been twining through the girl's ankles. Samara lifted her head to glare at the newcomers, and upon being ignored put her head back on her paws to fall asleep again. Angie, meanwhile, had gotten up to close the door, glancing outside to see if anyone else was out there. Seeing no one she locked the door and turned her attention to her friend and her friend's charge. The girl was finally starting to calm down, hysterical cries reduced to small whimpers. Finally she drew a shuddering breath and ran her hand firmly across her eyes, wiping away the last of her tears.

"What happened?" Kim asked. She put her hand under Christine's chin, tilting her head to the side, throwing into the light a freshly forming bruise. Kim winced. "He did this because I stopped by, right?"

Christine hunched her shoulders. "He would've anyway," she muttered. "It's not your fault, I'm used to it by now."

Angie exchanged a worried glance with her friend. She may be used to it but something this time had scared Christine into running. And the only place she knew to go had been here. Seeking to distract the girl Angie's gaze settled on the two cats.

"Who're your friends?" she asked. One of the cats meowed, lightly leaping into her mistress's lap. Christine smiled tiredly.

"This is Diva," she said indicating the cat on her lap. Diva was pure white, with long, fluffy fur, probably Himalayan. "And that's Aria," Christine indicated the Siamese cat sitting at her feet, blinking lazy blue eyes over at Angie. Kim scooped Samara off the bed, deaf to her cat's protesting yowls.

"This is Samara," she said, holding the scraggly gray bundle out for Christine to pet. The girl giggled, instantly picking up on the origin of the cat's name.

"Like the girl from the Ring, right?" she asked. Kim laughed.

"Yep."

"I'm sorry about this," Christine muttered, but Kim cut her off.

"I told you to come here if you needed anything," she said firmly. "And as this is most likely my fault anyway…" she shook her head. "You're staying here. If there's anything you need from home I'll pick it up for you tomorrow."

"Just some clothes," Christine said, yawning. "I have everything else here." She indicated the small backpack she had carried. She rifled through her bag, coming up with one of the Hypnocil bottles that Kim had given her earlier. Kim went into the bathroom for a cup of water and Christine gratefully swallowed one of the pills. She changed into a pair of ratty pajamas while Kim set up the bed, putting her c.d player on the night table.

"She really has it bad, doesn't she?" Angie whispered. Kim nodded, her lips pursed angrily.

"I'm having a serious talk with the judge tomorrow," she hissed. "If they try giving me any problems about custody…" she let her voice trail off threateningly before continuing. "I have enough dirt on this town to hammer them straight back to the 70's. They better not give me trouble." At this point Christine walked back into the room and rifled through her bag, also coming up holding a cd player.

"I hate to ask," she said, "but do you have batteries?" Kim and Angie laughed.

"That's one thing that we never run out of," Kim said. Angie rifled through one of the bags and tossed two batteries over to Christine.

"I haven't been able to listen to my music for a while," she said. "I haven't been able to sneak any money for batteries, and it's not like my foster dad would _give_ me the money. He doesn't even buy me Hypnocil," she muttered dejectedly. Kim ruffled her hair.

"You're camping with me," she said. "Hop up. Hope you don't mind staying up a little longer. Rat Race is on."

They all settled down to watch the movie. Christine, having never seen it before, was soon laughing hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. When the movie finally ended all three girls settled headphones over their ears and fell asleep. Kim and Angie emerged once again on Elmstreet already dressed in their usual styles. Angie had on baggy black pants and an over-sized Slipknot tee shirt. Kim was wearing plain black jeans and a black tee shirt that said "I am out of my mind but feel free to leave a message." She had her hands shoved in her pockets and she was biting her lower lip.

"Worried?" Angie asked. Kim glanced over at her.

"I need to talk to Kristen," she said. "I'll see you later, okay?" She simply vanished from sight. Angie let out a sigh, turned, and started walking down Elmstreet. She paused before going too far, however. She was still mad at Freddy from his reference to Sheila the night before. She didn't know why it was getting to her so much, she was just some girl he killed years ago, right? But the memory still irked so she turned and walked back the way she had come.

_Let his stew awhile_, she thought. She could find something else to do tonight.

"Come here often?" someone asked from just behind her. Angie jumped nearly ten feet in the air, her heart going a mile a minute. She whipped around to see who had spoken.

"Raziel!" she shrieked. "What the hell are you doing here?" He was smirking at having startled the hell out of her, his hands lazily shoved in his pockets.

"I could ask you the same question," he replied. Angie had started looking around hurriedly, struck by a sudden fear.

"Aren't you afraid of Freddy finding you?" she asked.

"Krueger? Not really," Raziel said nonchalantly.

"Then you're either brave or stupid, which is it?" Angie asked.

"You'll have to find out," Raziel said lazily. He began walking down the street in the direction Angie had been heading. "You coming?" he asked her. Angie trotted after him. She didn't know why Freddy hadn't found Raziel yet, but the sooner she got the goth away from Elmstreet the safer he would be.

Kim, meanwhile, had returned to the in-between world where she had left Kristen. Or, more accurately, where Kristen had shoved her back into Dreamworld. But it seemed that Kristen had left, so with a sigh Kim returned to Dreamworld wondering where she could find the young Dream Master again. But she didn't have to look.

"I was wondering when you'd find your way back," said someone behind her. Kim turned to find Kristen standing behind her.

"You're still here?" Kim asked. Kristen shrugged.

"I told you I'd wait for you to come back. I waited a long time to be free, I can wait a little longer to go on. I'm assuming you're here about your new charge?"

"I don't know what to do," Kim said. "I'm taking her out of Springwood as soon as I can, but will that really do anything? Can I really protect her forever?" Kristen smiled.

"Eventually, if she stays out of Springwood long enough, Freddy won't be able to reach her anymore. It will take a long time, years most likely, but eventually she'll be fine on her own. I suppose just do what you're doing now. Keep giving her Hypnocil, as long as she doesn't dream Freddy can't find her. Oh, and while you're in Springwood your connection to Dreamworld Springwood is stronger. I'd take advantage of that if I were you, it'll make it easier to find the others."

"How'd you know I was in Springwood now?" Kim asked, startled.

"I'm a Dream Master too," said Kristen with a shrug. "I know if another Dream Master enters my town." She smiled then. "Now how about those control lessons I promised?"

The next day Kim went to pick up the rest of Christine's things. Her foster father gave an angry rant, but passed out drunk on the floor after too long so Kim was able to retrieve everything without too much trouble. The sheriff and the judge were set to give her hell, but all Kim did was wave one of her files significantly and they subsided, albeit grudgingly. They said it would take a few more days for the custody shift, but Kim suspected that they were just stalling for time. No matter what she threatened they would try to find some way of keeping Christine in Springwood.

Angie, meanwhile, was puzzling over Raziel and Freddy. Freddy always knew when someone was in his Dreamworld, so where the hell had he been last night when Raziel was wandering around. And why wasn't Raziel afraid of Freddy when everyone else in Springwood was? And why did she care, anyway?

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'm sorry for its shortness but I wanted to update tonight.**

**Freddy: Has she calmed down yet?**

**Angie: (peeking) No, she's still floating in the air. And the music is still playing. **

**Me: (humming to music) I'm going to go steal the rights to Phantom now, so read and review!**

**Oh, you know I haven't actually responded to many reviewers yet have I? Bad me. Let's see…**

**Chibidragon7- No, I didn't know that Raziel meant Angel of Death. But he's Angie's character, so if she knew she kept that to herself. Interesting though. **

**AerdnaMilos- Don't worry, you'll be getting plenty Freddy in soon. Wait till you see what I've got cooked up. (And no, I'm not reffering to the Angie in the oven incident. Glares at Freddy.**

**Freddy: Gulp. (backs away slowly.)**

**AmandaTheVampireLove- glad you enjoyed your visit. Yes I'm the girl who loves the Death Gate Cycle, I FOUND A FELLOW FAN! YAY! Yes Chris is looselybased off the Phantom Christine, and wait till you find out why. You'll have to wait a while however. ****And what good is beating me over the head witha sock going to do? Yes he really is trying to kill me isn't he? And not succeeding either. (evil grin) And all men are stupid when it comes to women.**

**Imperfection07- glad you like my story, update yours soon, hai?**

**rock angel- if you tried to borrow Freddy, Angie would kill you. I therefore would not recommend it. **

**And to everyone I realize that the link didn't show so I'm trying again here. I'll also put it in my bio, so if this does not work, try there. Sorry.**

**http: **


	19. Friday the 13th

**Me: (still floating around the ceiling, humming Phantom music.)**

**Freddy & Angie: 0.o**

**Freddy: It's been over a week sinse she saw the show and she hasn't come down yet!**

**Angie: Apparently not…**

**Me: (still humming) Next chappie, Yay! Read and review!**

**Disclaimer: as if.**

Chapter 19: Friday the 13th 

"So what do you people do for fun in this town?" Angie asked Christine, who raised her eyebrows.

"Fun? This town is the backwater end of God's nowhere. Sometimes I wonder if the people here even know what fun _is_."

Angie grumbled. She was bored! It had been two days and they were still here, and she was ready to climb the walls from the lack of activity. She had called Raziel, who wasn't home, and there was no one else in town she knew. They didn't have an art supply store and she was beginning to run low, and the selection at the movie store was really bad. There was a really small section of horror movies, and Angie had noticed the distinct absence of the Nightmare on Elmstreet series. Seeking to annoy she had inquired about it at the checkout, and had promptly created a silence throughout the store. Everyone had stared at her like she was from another planet, and she had left feeling both smug and rather disgruntled.

Kim walked in the door at that point, and Angie could tell from her sour face that she still hadn't managed to gain custody rights of Christine. That meant they were stuck here for a few more days at least. Angie's thoughts wandered to Raziel. Maybe staying a few days wouldn't be too bad.

"There's a nightclub in town," Kim said to Angie. "Might be worth checking out later." Christine rolled her eyes.

"Have fun," she said. "That place is really just a restaurant, they don't even have a DJ. They play cd's, and never anything new, they're always a year old or older. It's rare that they can get someone to perform, this town has no musical talent to speak of."

"You've been there?" Kim asked. Christine shrugged again, a light blush creeping up her face.

"Once or twice."

"Well it's better than sitting here all day," Angie said firmly. "Me and you can go later. We can always leave if we don't like it."

So after dinner Kim and Angie wandered into Springwood's only nightclub. There were a few people lingering around, mostly teenage couples. Kim found a table against the wall, half hidden in the shadows and she and Angie sat down. The waiter came over and the girls ordered drinks. Angie sighed in boredom, Christine had been right. The music was terrible. She figured she would finish her drink and leave, but a few minutes later the music stopped. Across the table Kim muttered "Thank God," under her breath. Angie snickered. Then she found herself staring in shock. Raziel had just walked out from the back, holding a guitar. He looked at her and smirked, then he started to play. The style he played was a mix of heavy metal and rock, and he played well.

"I didn't know he played," Kim commented.

"Neither did I," Angie replied, just as shocked as her friend. Well you learn something new every day apparently. Angie sat back and drank her soda, listening to Raziel play. She vaguely wondered if he was planning on making a cd. If he was, she would buy it in a hot second.

Kim sighed, beginning to get bored. She wasn't into metal like her friend was, and after a while it began to grate on her nerves. She put her head in her hand with her elbow on the table, her other hand drumming on the table. Angie glared at her out of the corner of her eye and Kim stopped, smirking.

When Raziel finished playing he walked over to the table the two girls were at, yanked over a chair and flopped down.

"Long time no see," he greeted. Kim glared at him.

"You never told me you played," Angie commented, her voice bordering on accusation. Raziel shrugged.

"You know now."

Angie stood. "I'm getting another drink," she said and wandered over to the bar. Kim waited until she was out of earshot before glaring at Raziel.

"My threat stands firm," she hissed. Raziel gave her a puzzled look, but his eyes flickered with resentment for a second.

"I'm sorry. I must have missed this," he said quietly.

"Don't play stupid, it won't get you anywhere!" Kim hissed savagely. "You've been warned!"

At that point Angie walked back with her drink, gazing at the two with upraised eyebrows. If looks could kill, her two companions would have been lying stone cold on the floor.

"Did I miss something?" she asked, really confused.

"No," Kim all but snapped, rising from her seat. "I should be getting back. I'll leave the car," she said, tossing Angie the keys.

"You're going to _walk_ all the way back?" Angie asked, incredulous. Kim shrugged.

"I don't see why I can't. Have a good night Angie." She turned on her heal after a last death-glare at Raziel, and walked out of the club. Angie stared confusedly after her friend for a minute, then shook her head and sat down. She still didn't know what her friend had against Raziel.

The man in question was currently leaning back in his chair, his feet up on the table.

"So you liked it?" Raziel asked.

"What?"

"My music."

"Yeah, I did," Angie said. "You play really well. Ever consider starting a band?"

Raziel chuckled. "Na. The rest of the band would piss me off at some point and I'd wind up killing them. I sail solo."

Angie snickered. When the waitress came by again they ordered some fries to share, chatting about offhand topics while they ate. When Angie glanced at her watch again she started in surprise. It was almost 10:30! When had it gotten that late?

"I should be heading home," Raziel said, picking up on her thoughts. "Want to come to the back with me and help me pack up?" he asked. Angie nodded, paying for the food and tossing a tip on the table and following Raziel through a door to the back of the club. They walked down a short hallway and through a random, unmarked door. Angie wondered how Raziel found his way around if all the doors were identical.

"I didn't bring much," Raziel commented as he packed away his guitar and amp. "There. Done."

"Then what did you need me for?" asked Angie sardonically. Raziel chuckled.

"Company," he said, walking across the room to stand in front of her.

Angie cocked her head as she looked at him. His eyes were pale blue and she was, not for the first time, struck by a sense of acute recognition. She tried shaking it off but it wouldn't go away. Raziel was standing barely inches from her. _Too close_, Angie thought vaguely. Why did this scene seem so damn familiar? Why couldn't she place it?

She shifted nervously from foot to foot, pulling her gaze from Raziel's and pretending to be interested in something in the corner.

"I should get going," she muttered, and began to head for the door, but Raziel's hand closed on her arm.

"Sick of me already?" he asked jokingly. Angie smiled half-heartedly. Raziel didn't move his hand from her arm. She gave her arm an experimental tug, but Raziel didn't let go. Angie raised her gaze to his again, beginning to get a little ticked off, more confused then she thought a person could be. But Raziel looked confused too, the smirk he always wore only half in place. He brought up his other hand to cradle her chin, running his thumb back and forth across her jaw. Angie's heart was going a mile a minute by now. What on earth was he thinking?

"Raziel, wha-?"

Angie's question was cut off abruptly as Raziel leaned in and kissed her. He pulled back, and they both stood, blinking at each other in complete surprise. It was obvious that he hadn't planned on doing that, and if he were anyone else Angie would have given him a black eye. But her hand didn't seem to be under her control anymore, nor did the rest of her body. She certainly wasn't the girl to take the step that would close the distance between them, or the girl to tangle her fingers in his hair and bring his head back down to hers, no she certainly wasn't that girl. So why the hell was that what she did? It was Kim who was the hopeless romantic, not her! So why was she the one with one hand tangled in a guy's hair, the other wrapped around his back?

But if Raziel hadn't seemed the romantic type earlier, he had certainly shed that persona now. One of his hands was firmly settled between her shoulder blades, holding her as close to himself as he could get her, the other gently cradled the back of her head.

Angie thought that she wasn't the type to be caught dead in a situation like this, her "I hate everybody" reputation would bite the dust if people saw her. But there was no one there to see them, no one who could possibly know, so Angie firmly told her mind to take a hike.

They finally broke apart, separating only a few inches to pant hungrily for air. Raziel moved his hand from the back of her head to cradle her cheek almost wonderingly. With a small sigh Angie leaned against him and closed her eyes, her head nestled under his chin.

Kim was sprawled on her bed in the hotel room listening to her music and humming along (three guesses what she's listening to and the first two don't count) while she drew. She was working on a manga of her own, hoping to start one like Angie had. Now that she had finished her latest novel she had some spare time on her hands that she could work with.

Angie walked through the door then and Kim glanced at the clock, starting when she saw that it was close to midnight.

"Wow, you stayed late," Kim observed.

"Mmhm," was the only response she got. Kim glanced curiously over at her friend, who looked shell-shocked. Kim furrowed her eyebrows.

"Angie, what the hell happened?"

Angie glanced over at her, coming out of her revere. "Happened? Nothing. We just had a lot to talk about."

Kim narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Uh-huh," she said, disbelieving.

Angie glanced at Christine, not meeting her friend's gaze.

"What's she listening to anyway?" she asked, frantic to turn the topic of conversation away from her. Her friend rolled her eyes, but obligingly began to rifle through Christine's bag. She pulled out a cd case, stared at it for a second, then burst out laughing, burying her face in a pillow to muffle the sound.

"What the hell's so funny?" Angie asked. In response Kim handed her the cd case. Angie looked at it and groaned. Of course. There had to be another Phantom freak. She handed the case back to her friend who put it back in Christine's bag, still giggling madly.

"You're outnumbered Angie," she snickered. Angie grumbled under her breath. She went into the bathroom to wash up and tug on a pair of pajamas. She walked back into the room to see Kim already settled in bed, cd player at the ready on the nightstand.

"What are you thinking about?" Kim asked curiously.

"Raziel," said Angie, then bit her tongue. _Great Angie, just great_, she thought to herself angrily. _Way to be subtle. Why don't you just write it across your forehead in flashing neon letters_? She climbed into bed, then turned to look at Kim who was gazing at her worriedly.

"What?" Angie almost snapped. "What is it you don't like about Raziel?"

"You haven't figured it out yet Angie?" asked Kim, rather rhetorically since it was obvious her confused friend hadn't. Angie shook her head.

"Figured what out?"

Kim shook her head. "Just remember the spider, Angie. Remember the spider." Then she settled the headphones over her ears, lay back and closed her eyes. Angie obviously wasn't getting anything else out of her, so she lay down as well, snapping off the light.

The spider? Then she remembered Raziel the first day they had met, stumbling and almost falling because of a spider in his path. Angie had wondered then, and she wondered now why he hadn't stepped on it? But he hadn't even seen it, and how does one trip over a spider? And not only that but leave it perfectly unscathed on the sidewalk afterwards? And what did that have to do with anything? Her whirling mind finally succumbed to the lure of unconsciousness, Angie deciding to talk to Raziel when she met him in Dreamworld.

But when Angie emerged in Dreamworld it wasn't on Elmstreet like normal, or even in the Power Plant. She was in the woods somewhere. The air was damp and heavy, and Angie's clothes clung to her body as she moved through the woods, struggling to reach open ground. As she finally did she heard someone hail her, and turning she saw Kim jogging over.

"Where the hell are we?" Angie asked crossly. Her friend shook her head.

"I have no clue, but I intend on finding out. There's a lake over this way," she said pointing. Angie followed after her friend, walking along the lake's bank. Then she looked down and stopped.

"Kim! Come look at this!" she called. Kim jogged back, staring at the ground and at the wet footprints leading from the lake and into the woods. She and Angie stared at each other nervously, wondering if they should leave. Freddy couldn't hurt them true, but that didn't mean there were other things in Dreamworld that couldn't. They walked quickly back the way they had come, scurrying down a path that they found, ears pricked for the slightest sound.

"There's got to be a sign somewhere," Kim muttered. "Something that will tell us where we are." After another minute or two she stopped, standing stock still. She pointed a shaking finger that Angie followed, then sucked in a startled breath. Kim had found a sign all right, and they certainly knew where they were. The sign by the road proclaimed, "Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake."

_Oh shit_, Angie thought. They were definitely in trouble now.

**Heh heh. Yes I am evil. Another cliffhanger. And I am sorry to the reviewers I didn't respond to yet, but my dad was kicking me off the computer last time, so I had to rush and update. I will get to you all, I promise, please don't get offended. Oh and the Phantom dropped by to visit! Yay!**

**Erik: (blinking)** **What am I doing here?**

**Freddy: (being firmly huggled by Angie) I'd run if I were you. Insane fangirls are a fate worse than death, and I should know.**

**Me: (huggles Erik)**

**Freddy: Too late. **

**Erik: 0.0**

**Please review, just click the little button in the left hand corner. **


	20. Jason's Revenge

**Heyla! Sorry this update took so long, I've been down with a sore throat all week and really didn't feel like typing.**

**Freddy: Well at least she's finally come down off the ceiling now.**

**Erik: Can anyone tell me what I'm doing here?**

**Freddy: You are the object of an insane fangirl's obsession.**

**Me: I resent that!**

**Angie: But it's true.**

**Disclaimer: bite me.**

Chapter 20: Jason's Revenge 

The girls stood staring at the sign for a few dumbfounded moments, shaking. Angie turned to look at her friend as Kim slapped a hand over her eyes, face screwed in concentration.

"Friday, Friday," she muttered. "Angie what was today's date?"

Angie thought for a minute. "The thirteenth, I think. Why-?" she trailed off. "Oh shit," she whispered. Friday the thirteenth. One of the rare occasions that Jason was given the chance to come back from the dead. And he certainly had a reason to, if he still bore a grudge against Freddy. "Oh shit," she muttered again.

A twig snapped behind them, sending both girls jumping nearly ten feet into the air. They whipped around, Kim instinctively throwing a protective arm in front of her friend. When nothing happened the two girls began to relax, turning back to Crystal Lake, only to see Jason standing on the path not ten feet from them. Both girls leaped backward with startled exclamations, watching Camp Crystal Lake's killer warily.

Jason, in his turn, was staring at them intently. While on Kim his gaze was curious behind the hockey mask, but when on Angie his eyes narrowed, and his grip on the knife in his hand tightened. As he started towards them they turned and ran, keeping on the path leading to the road. They had always scoffed at the girls in the old Friday the Thirteenth movies who had ran into the forest and become easy prey, and they were determined not to copy those girls.

They kept glancing over their shoulders, but no matter how fast they ran they could always still see Jason plodding along behind them.

"He's so frikken slow!" Angie exclaimed angrily. "How the hell is he keeping up with us!" As she was turned watching Jason, Angie wasn't looking at the path in front of her and failed to see the tree root stretched across the path, and as a consequence was sent sprawling with a startled cry.

Kim whirled around and ran back to Angie, jumping between Jason and her fallen friend. Angie scrambled to her feet just as Jason reached them. He raised the knife in his hand threateningly, but didn't bring it down. He stared at the girl in front of him, then at Angie. He tried to sidestep around Kim, who merely moved to put herself again between Jason and Angie.

"Hey I'm right here moron!" she screamed, trying to divert Jason's attention away from her friend because she had the ability and power to fight back should Jason attack her whereas Angie didn't.

Angie was watching her friend try to distract Jason. She didn't have any dream powers to boast of, but even she could feel the strictly controlled energy that hummed in the air around her friend. She blinked suddenly. That had to be it, that had to be the reason why Jason was refusing to attack her friend. Kim was a Dream Master and Jason must be able to sense that. She had the ability to fight Freddy, and if Jason still bore a grudge against the evil Dream Master then anything that could do damage to Freddy was not to be attacked.

In a sudden, swift move Kim dove away from Jason, seized Angie by the shoulder, and dreamwalked the two of them back to Elmstreet and away from Crystal Lake. Jason was left blinking stupidly at the spot where the two girls had vanished.

Once on Elmstreet Angie seized her friend's arm, garbling out her theory about why Jason hadn't attacked her. Kim bit her lip.

"You think that's it?"

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Angie asked. Kim sighed.

"Not really. But how would Jason know?" Angie shrugged.

"How did he know where the councilors had gone when he tracked them down in all those movies, it's just one of those horror movie things that can't be explained, it just is."

Kim ran a hand through her hair. "There's a reason I never liked those movies," she muttered. She glanced down Elmstreet. "Go tell Freddy, he might as well know that Jason's awake because I'm betting he's heading straight for Springwood." Angie nodded.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to Crystal Lake," said Kim with a grim smile. She left Angie on Elmstreet and dreamwalked back to that point in the woods where she had met Jason. He was still standing there, still staring at the point where she and Angie had vanished. He cocked his head to the side when Kim reappeared. But Kim hadn't taken more than one aggressive step forward when Jason's form began to shimmer, and he vanished altogether. Kim was left alone on the path that led to Crystal Lake with the realization of what must have happened. Jason must have woken up. And he would be making a beeline for Springwood. Swearing, Kim brought herself back to Elmstreet.

Angie ran up the walk to Freddy's house and shoved the door open, panting for air as she ran inside. Freddy, as usual, was sitting in the living room. He looked up as she burst into the room.

"Took you long enough," he grumbled.

"Didn't wake up on Elmstreet," Angie said, finally catching her breath. "And aren't you going to say something about me not being here the past week?" Freddy shrugged.

"If there's one thing I learned from you it's don't annoy you, you're dangerous. I figured I'd give you time to cool down. So where did wake up if not here?"

Angie shrugged off his explanation, knowing he wasn't the type to actually do what he said. Annoy her or not he had always sought her out when she fell asleep if she didn't first find him. But she'd discuss it later.

"I was at Crystal Lake," she said. Freddy blinked, then his eyes narrowed as he took in the implication of that statement. "Jason't back, Freddy. He's probably coming here." Freddy snarled, getting off the couch to throw various things around the living room in a fit of apocalyptic rage. Angie just watched, she was used to his mood swings by now. But now given tome to think she wondered why Freddy hadn't brought up Raziel yet. He had to know that she had been hanging out with the goth for the past week, he always knew who was in his Dreamworld. Well she wasn't bringing it up now, not with Freddy in a towering temper like this.

The front door slammed suddenly, causing both Angie and Freddy to look around in surprise as Kim stormed into the living room.

What the hell are you doing here!" Freddy screamed as Angie asked, "What happened to Jason?"

"He woke up, that's what happened!" Kim seethed. "The bastard woke up!"

Angie shuddered involuntarily. Jason in Dreamworld was one thing, Jason in the real world where neither Kim's nor Freddy's powers could do a thing against him was quite another thing. She looked between Freddy and her best friend. They hated each other violently, and the goal of each was to kill the other. But she suspected that before this was over they were going to have to team together, whether they liked it or not.

"I'm telling you the truth!" Kim shouted angrily.

"Jason is dead," the judge said consolingly. "He was killed after his last battle with Freddy, he can't come back."

"And Freddy couldn't come back all those times he did! Jason couldn't come back and go after all those councilors, but he did! He was dead to begin with you idiot! You can't kill something that's already dead!"

"Look, we thank you for your concern, but our town has its own way of dealing with situations like this," the sheriff said, trying to still Kim's angry tirade.

"Ways that land most of the town dead!" Kim shouted. "I'm warning you, Jason is coming right for your town! Or do you not remember what he did last time?"

"If he's coming after Freddy like you say then this town has nothing to worry about does it?"

"You moron," Kim hissed. "He's coming after Freddy and he'll kill anyone he comes across in the process. No one in this town in safe so long as he's around, hypnocil won't protect them from a killer who exists in the real world."

"Thank you for your concern, but it really is unneeded," the sheriff said firmly. Kim began to back up, shaking her head, eyes snapping with suppressed rage.

"So be it," she hissed. "Any deaths that this results in are on your head now, not mine! I warned you, just remember that!" she snapped, turning on her heal and storming out of the courthouse. She hadn't really been expecting them to be much help, but really this was ridiculous. It was as if those two _wanted_ Jason to go on a rampage. _Some things never change_, she thought savagely.

Angie and Christine looked up when she stormed back into the hotel room.

"No luck?" Angie asked as Kim stood seething by the door.

"I didn't really expect anything," Christine said, head going back to her book. "This town never paid attention in these situations, I didn't expect them to start now." Kim was staring out the window.

"People are still going to die," she said. "There's no way around that. When Jason comes to town he's going to go on a rampage, and I can't do anything to stop him."

"Then don't," said Christine. "Let him go on his rampage and let the cops try to deal with him when they realize that you were right."

Kim bit her lip. "I can't do that," she whispered. "It's innocent people he's going to kill. Does the stupidity of some mean that the rest have to suffer?" Angie sighed. This waiting was starting to wear on all of them. She had tried to help Kim spread the word around town, but mostly they were ignored. She had told Raziel and he was the only one to pay much attention, and she had seen the rage in his eyes at the mention of Jason's name and she wondered where it had come from. Raziel couldn't have met Jason before, right? Now that she thought about it, Raziel had almost reacted the same as Freddy.

"I need to take a walk," Angie muttered vaguely, getting up and leaving, pretty much ignored by the two other girls in the room.

The more she thought about Raziel the more he reminded her of Freddy. They both had the same rather cocky demeanor, the same sneer, the same laugh. She put her face in her hands, thinking hard. She liked them both, maybe the reason she liked Raziel so much was because he reminded her of Freddy. She groaned. This was a dilemma if she was ever in one. If one of them found out about the other- wait.

Something clicked into place in Angie's mind, like the final pieces to a jigsaw puzzle finally being put into place. Raziel tripping over the spider, Freddy not mentioning Raziel in Dreamworld, almost as if he didn't know the goth existed. Their similar reactions to hearing about Jason and their eyes. Angie started swearing. She knew Raziel's eyes had seemed familiar!

_That sneak_! She thought. _That stupid, conniving sneak_! Angie started laughing, attracting stares from passersby, who then hurried on as if she were a madwoman. Angie ignored them, shaking her head as she finally figured out what her friend had known all along. Freddy_ was_ Raziel. That was why they were so similar, and why Raziel hadn't been able to kill the spider, and why Freddy never appeared in Dreamworld when Raziel was around. Even Freddy couldn't be in two places at once. Raziel was a projection that Freddy sent of himself out into the real world. He couldn't kill and he couldn't be killed, which is why he had tripped over the spider. Angie continued to giggle as she walked. Boy was she gonna give it to that presumptuous pain in the ass when she saw him next, in whatever form she saw him in next.

Her mind wandered back to the night before at the club then, and the smile faded from her face. What was that then? If Raziel had been the one to kiss her, and Raziel was really Freddy, then that meant…

Angie paused, raising a hand to her lips. She had known for a long time that she was in love with Springwood's Dream Demon. And from appearances that Dream Demon had finally come to a conclusion about her. Smiling, Angie started walking again.

Darkness had fallen over the town of Springwood. Angie was still out in town, and Kim was restlessly pacing around the motel room, every so often glancing at the clock to check the time, or flipping on the local news station to check for any news of Jason in the area. She didn't want him to show up, but just waiting was absolute agony. If something was going to happen she wished it would just happen. Well, they always say be careful what you wish for.

Kim and Christine stepped outside the motel to go for a walk, both suffocating in the tension choked atmosphere of the motel room. They wound up walking to a park nearby, trudging aimlessly along the paths, every so often passing people resting on benches. They giggled like mad when one of the people began to snore.

Coming out of the park they decided to head back to the hotel. They couldn't do anything about Jason until Jason showed up. They hadn't gotten too far from the park when Kim got the uncomfortable feeling that they were being watched. She glanced over her shoulder, but didn't see anyone. Still, she didn't like the feeling. She draped an arm over Christine's shoulder and pulled the girl closer. She walked out into the middle of the street and stopped, listening closely. If there was one thing she had learned from old horror movies it was always trust your instincts, and those weird tingly feelings you got when the evil dude was near you. Sure enough she heard the staccato rhythm of footsteps getting closer.

"If I tell you to, run, understand?" Kim whispered to Christine. Wide eyed, the girl nodded.

Kim carefully scanned the surrounding area, but couldn't see anything. She and Christine turned around, and saw Jason standing right behind them. He raised the knife in his hands, already covered in blood, and brought it down. Kim protectively threw Christine behind her, eyes closed, braced for the impact of Jason's knife. But it never came. She opened one eye, then the other, staring in wonder. Jason had stopped the knife barely an inch from her head. But why? Then she remembered what Angie had said before. She posed a major threat to Freddy, so Jason wouldn't hurt her no matter what she did. Kim backed slowly away from Crystal Lake's killer, keeping Christine behind her. Freddy wanted to kill the girl, so Jason probably wanted to kill her first to piss Freddy off. But he couldn't get to her with Kim standing in front of her. When she had about half the street between them Jason started after her, so Kim whipped around and ran with Christine. She wasn't sure where to go, but she knew she had to get away from here.

They ran back into the park, and it was clear that Jason had been here already. The people they had seen earlier on the benches were lying in bloody pieces along the path. Revolted, the two girls picked up speed, reaching the end of the park and making for the motel again. It was clear that Angie hadn't gotten back yet, so Kim ran to the car, shoved Christine in the back, leaped in and started it up. She was pulling away from the curb when Jason appeared again. Kim sped away, determined to find her best friend before Jason did. She and Christine drove around, but didn't see hide nor hair of Angie. Where the hell would she have gone? Kim had tried Raziel's house on her cell phone, but no one had picked up. Unless Angie had figured out Raziel's secret?

Kim headed for the Power Plant. She skidded to a stop in front of it, leaving the ignition on in case they needed to make a fast get away for she had no doubt that Jason would be stopping here soon. She and Christine leaped out of the car, racing into the burned out building. Sure enough, Angie was inside, conspicuously wandering the lower catwalks.

"Angie!" Kim yelled. Her friend looked down. "We gotta go! Come on!" Kim yelled. Angie frowned, then realization hit and she raced for the stairs. She glanced back down to her friend again.

"Kim, watch out!" she yelled. Kim turned, then tugged Christine behind her just in time, as Jason once again swung his knife for the girl. Kim backed Christine into a wall, arms spread protectively. Jason was _not_ getting anywhere near her charge. Jason looked up at the catwalks, and the shaking Angie looking down at them. He looked between Christine, guarded by Freddy's archenemy and the girl on the catwalks for a minute. Then Jason's slow mind seemed to come to a decision. He turned and started for the stairs leading to the catwalks.

"Christine go back to the car," Kim hissed.

"What?" Christine asked in disbelief.

"Go back to the car," Kim repeated. "Get in the front seat. If Jason comes out before I do, drive. Don't worry about laws or anything, just drive, you understand?" Christine nodded. "Good, go," Kim said, giving the girl a push for the door. Then she raced up the stairs after Jason.

Jason was halfway up when Kim reached him. She leaped up and shoved him hard in the shoulder, throwing him off balance. He turned back to face her, confusion registering in his eyes.

"You leave her alone!" Kim shouted. "You leave the mall alone, you hear?" Jason blinked, then poked Kim hard in the shoulder. She fell back a step or two, holding tight to the rail, then darted back up.

Angie watched as her friend tried to throw Jason off balance, trying get on the stairs ahead of him, but ultimately failing. Jason may be unwilling to kill her friend, but it seemed injure was something he didn't mind. He shoved Kim hard the next time she ran at him, sending her flying down the metal stairs with a shriek. She landed hard on her left side, tumbling the rest of the way down to the ground. Groaning, got back up, then cried out and clutched her upper left arm. It hurt to move, and she was afraid that Jason had broken it.

"Kim, go get help!" Angie shouted. "I can stay away from him long enough, I know this place better than him. Go get some help!" And with that she turned and ran away from the single-minded killer who was now after her. Kim stared after her friend for a second, then Jason turned to look down at her. She glared death in his direction, then turned and ran back to the car. She leaped into the driver's seat, not even bothering to put on her seat-belt before she sped off.

Get help. The idea was laughable, who exactly could them fight off Jason? No one, that's who. But she had to try. Maybe she should try calling Raziel again, he might know something-

Kim started laughing. Raziel. Freddy Krueger. The one person who hated Jason most and would love nothing more than to see him sent back to hell. The one Jason hated most and would love to treat likewise. The only one who stood a chance at fighting Jason. And the one who had a _very_ good reason to save her friend. Kim stopped in front of the hotel, knowing full well what she would have to do, and resenting the idea monumentally. But she had no other option.

"Christine," she quickly addressed the girl as they got out of the car. "Do you know the way to the town border?" she asked. Confused, Christine nodded. "Run there. Get across the border, I don't care if you sit just on the other side of it, but get across the border." She tossed Christine her wallet. "There should be a 24 hour diner not far from the border of town. Wait there, and I'll come pick you up when this is over, alright?"

Christine nodded, chewing her lip worriedly. Then in a surprise move she leaped forward and threw her arms around a startled Kim.

"Just make sure you come back, okay?" Christine whimpered. Kim wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug.

"I will," she promised. "I should be there tomorrow. Now go." Christine disentangled herself from her guardian and ran off, glancing over her shoulder at Kim until she rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. Grimly, Kim went into the motel room and took a sleeping pill from the bathroom. She set her alarm for ten minutes before collapsing across the bed, going to seek the aid of the one person she hated the most in the world. The one person who stood the slightest chance against Crystal Lake's psychotic killer.

**I seem to have an addiction to cliffhangers don't I? Please don't kill me. Remember, you kill me, you don't find out what happens!**

**Angie: You'll come save me, right Freddy?**

**Freddy: umm, I guess?**

**Angie: What do you mean you guess! (beating Freddy over the head)**

**Erik: Is it always like this around here.**

**Me: Oh, it gets worse. Trust me.**

**Freddy: Ow! Ow! Ow! Yes, I'll go rescue you! Ow! Stop it already! Ow! **

**Me and Erik: **


	21. Freddy vs Jason

Hey, I'm sorry I left you all hanging on the edge like that but I haven't have any time to type at all this week, I was making up a test almost every day because I was out almost all last week. But I go on vacation next Thursday, so I'll have more time.

**Freddy: Damn it, I was hoping the reviewers would kill her.**

**Angie: (hits him over the head.)**

**Freddy: ow. **

**Me: **

**Erik: Uh, on with the story?**

**Disclaimer: Oh get real.**

Chapter 21: Freddy vs. Jason 

"Freddy!" Kim screamed, looking in vain around the catwalks of the Power Plant in Dreamworld. "Freddy! Freddy Krueger!" She looked carefully around, still finding no sign of the evil dream master. "Damn it," she swore. "Freddy! Where the hell are you?"

A sixth sense made her whip around suddenly, lashing out with a foot and catching Freddy across the side of the head before his upraised, knife-gloved hand could connect with her back. He went flying sideways into the guard rail of the catwalks, pushing himself back to his feet, only to be met once again by Kim's foot to the side of the head.

"Damn you Krueger! You're going to stay there and _listen_ to me, damn you!"

"Why the hell should I?" Freddy demanded angrily. "I don't have to do a thing you say!" he snapped and tried to dreamwalk away, only to find Kim blocking him. Angrily he turned to fight her, right hand snapping out to stab her. She blocked him easily with her forearm and kicked him in the chest. He staggered back and lashed out again, but Kim dropped to the floor and kicked his legs out from under him. With an angry snarl she seized him by the collar, dragged him up, and punched him across the head, sending him flying into the railing again.

"I don't know _what_ Angie sees in you," Kim hissed, her voice deadly as poison. "But I'll be _damned_ if my best friend dies because of _you_!" She kicked him again, or tried to. This time Freddy ducked under her swinging foot and grabbed her by her shirtfront, lifting her a good three feet off the floor.

"What do you mean 'if she dies?'" he asked in a hiss. His eyes were narrowed in anger, and Kim thought she saw a brief flash of fear shoot through them for a second.

"Jason, Krueger! That's what I mean!" Kim snapped, tearing his hand from her shirt and smacking him over the head as she dropped back to her feet. "Jason has her trapped in the real world, and he's only going after _her_ because he wants revenge on _you_!"

Freddy looked completely stupefied. But his expression quickly changed to rage.

"That retarded freak!" he ranted, calling Jason every swearword under the sun, using words that Kim had never heard before and wasn't quite sure actually existed. Glancing at her watch she kicked Freddy in the back of the head to get his attention.

"Shut up Krueger. Ranting isn't going to save my best friend."

"Well what do you want me to do?" he screamed.

"I don't know, _Raziel_. Why don't you try fighting Jason!" Freddy blinked in surprise. Then he registered the last part of her sentence.

"I can't fight him in the real world, I can't kill anything as Raziel. And how the hell do you expect me to do anything from here?" he demanded.

"You can't," Kim agreed quietly. She winced and shuddered, swallowing the remnants of her dignity and pride. "You have to come with me," she spat out.

Freddy stared at her as if he hadn't heard right. "Go with you?" he repeated. "You're going to pull me out into the real world?"

"There are limitations," Kim said angrily, looking like she was kicking herself inside. "I'm making it so you still can't leave Springwood's borders, and as soon as you kill Jason and make sure Angie's alright you're coming right back to Dreamworld."

"What makes you think I will?" Freddy asked. "What makes you think I won't kill everyone in Springwood, including that little brat you're sheltering?"

"Your word that you won't," Kim said quietly.

"And you trust me?" Freddy asked with a sneer.

"No, I don't," Kim spat. "But I don't have a choice."

Freddy stared at her a few seconds, then stuck out his right hand. Kim took it, glancing at her watch as she did so. Ten minutes were up. Loud music was suddenly blaring in her ears. Dreamworld faded around her and she groggily opened her eyes, turning off the alarm and staggering out of bed. Shaking her head to clear it, Kim grabbed her keys off the dresser and ran once again for her car. Freddy was waiting for her, impatiently tapping his foot.

"Hurry up and let's go," he hissed. Kim ignored him, unlocking the car and jumping in. Freddy leapt in the back as Kim started the car up. Neither of them had on seatbelts as Kim once again traveled way over the speed limit, pedal to the metal as she raced for the Power Plant for the uncountable time that night. They skidded to a halt outside the Plant a little over five minutes later, Freddy out of the car and running before Kim actually stopped it. She took the time to turn off the car and pocket the keys before following after the evil Dream Master to whom she had entrusted her best friend's life.

Angie huddled out of sight, she hoped, listening for Jason's staccato footsteps. Not hearing anything she poked her head around the boiler she was hiding behind, only to jump desperately out of the way as the previously unseen Jason swung his knife at her. Angie dove around him and ran again, already panting for air. She knew enough not to try and hide again, she'd seen enough Friday the Thirteenth movies to know that hiding was tantamount to dying. So she kept running, climbing yet another level of the catwalks, Jason following behind her, albeit slowly. But reaching the end of the catwalks Angie discovered that she had hit a dead end. She stopped in front of the wall, desperately pounding her fists against it a few times in a desperate hope that it would vanish so she could keep running. Realizing the uselessness of pounding her now bloody fists against a solid brick wall Angie turned to face the approaching Jason, back pressed firmly against the wall. She whimpered as Jason got closer, then closed her eyes tightly, braced for the impact of his knife in her flesh. It never came. Instead there was an inhuman cry of rage, the sound of something striking something else, and something grabbed her by the shoulder, twisting her firmly out of harm's way. Angie blinked, staring in shock at Freddy, who held her firmly against his left side, his right hand raised threateningly at Jason.

"You keep away from her you retarded psychopath," he hissed in a deadly whisper at Jason, whose eyes were filled with rage behind the hockey mask he wore. Freddy released his protective hold on Angie and gently pushed her aside, moving so that he was standing between her and Camp Crystal Lake's killer. "Get out of here. That bitch of a friend of yours should be coming up by now," he said over his shoulder. Angie backed up slowly, Jason's eyes following her as she moved. They snapped back to Freddy as Freddy dove at him, knifed glove extended. Angie turned and ran, darting back down the stairs to the lower levels of the catwalks as the second battle between Freddy and Jason began. The clash echoed throughout the building, as did Freddy's curses. Angie was halfway down when she and Kim collided with each other, falling on their butts and rubbing their heads. Kim dove forward with a cry, firmly hugging her best friend around the neck in pure relief. Angie choked and tried to push her best friend off, she was being strangled.

"Kim…get off… can't breathe," she choked out in a strangled whisper. Kim released her, running the back of her hand across her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but there was a huge crash from behind her and both girls stared in shock at Jason, who was sprawled on his back. But not for long. After a few seconds he pushed himself to his feet, and the girls leapt to theirs. Kim stepped in front of her friend, arms spread protectively, but she shook in fear. Would Jason attack her now? Was he sick yet of her interference? She didn't have long to worry, for Freddy dropped, catlike, to land between the two girls and Jason, snarling in rage. The two killers clashed again, the girls hastily backing into the wall, barred by the fighters from any set of stairs. Kim glanced over the side to judge the drop, then looked back to the titans of terror with a shudder. She had no intention of splattering her brains on the Power Plant floor thank you very much. She and Angie watched as Freddy and Jason slashed and stabbed, hit and ducked. Freddy was managing to keep the upper hand in this fight and Kim began to wonder how. Then she saw him glance at them for a brief second before turning his attention back to the fight. She glanced at Angie and grinned. So that would be the reason, this time he was fighting to protect Angie. He couldn't afford to lose the upper hand in this fight.

The two titans continued to clash, Freddy finally knocking Jason down a few more levels and away from the girls, immediately jumping down after him. He landed on top of the Crystal Lake killer, plunging his daggers into Jason's neck and leaping off him. Jason stood up, apparently heedless of the blood gushing onto his shirt. Kim and Angie were all but hanging off the railing to see what was happening. Jason and Freddy lashed out at the same time, metal meeting metal and sending sparks flying.

"Angie, come help me," Kim called suddenly as she ran down the catwalk, struck by a sudden idea. The catwalks in the fire torn power plant were weak from years of neglect and non-use. If they could drop something heavy enough the lower ones might just give way completely.

Wondering what her friend was up to, Angie took off after her. They reached the end of the metal walkway where they found a small, old boiler, just the sort of thing Kim had been looking for.

"Help me," Kim repeated as she struggled to push it. Laboring, the two finally managed to work it over to where they had been standing before, Freddy and Jason still fighting beneath them. Kim kicked firmly at the weakened guardrail, a few good kicks finally snapping it where her foot was connecting. The two girls peered over the edge, then with a calculated shove they sent the old boiler toppling over. Freddy looked up, then jumped out of the way. Jason wasn't so lucky. The boiler landed right on top of him, sending the unfortunate killer crashing down to the floor of the Power Plant. Freddy followed, leaping the railing. The girls went down more slowly, exhausted from pushing the boiler all that way and having to go around another way as they had just knocked out the fastest route to the ground level.

When they reached the ground they walked carefully over to Freddy, whose daggers were drenched in blood, standing over Jason and staring down at the fallen terror titan.

"Is he dead?" Angie asked. Kim could have kicked her. You don't ask those questions, that's a ticket for the killer to come back to life! And sure enough, Jason's arm moved. But with an enraged cry Freddy swooped down, stabbing down again and again, Kim shutting her eyes firmly against the gore. Seeing it in movies was one thing, but this was just gross. Angie, on the other hand, felt a savage kind of joy watching Freddy tear apart the killer that had threatened her life. Watching Freddy in action was thrilling and had she wanted to she didn't think she could have torn her eyes from the sight.

"He's dead now," said Freddy in satisfaction, straightening up.

"He was dead to begin with," Kim muttered, opening her eyes and fumbling in her pocket. "Here it is," she said, holding up a cigarette lighter triumphantly. She carefully bent over Jason's still form, lighting the lighter and catching the flame on the killer's jacket. She tossed the lighter on top of him as the fire began to burn merrily. The three still living stared at the fallen killer as he began to burn. Kim closed her eyes and let out a breath. That was one. Now what did she do with the other one on her hands?

"You okay?" Freddy asked Angie, escorting her out of the building and away from the fire. He had a thing about being too close to fire.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Angie said. "I just need a good night's sleep," she added with a sly smile. Freddy smirked.

"Guess that means I'll have to let your friend send me back to Dreamworld after all."

Angie blinked. It finally sank in what Kim had done. Kim hated Freddy more than anything, was in fact waging war with the Dream Demon. But she had shoved her hate aside and swallowed her pride to ask for his help. It was equally amazing that he had agreed to help Kim at all.

"Thanks, by the way," Angie said. "For coming after me."

Freddy shrugged, looking away from Angie, but she could have sworn she saw him smile. "It was nothing really. Besides," he added with a smirk. "It gets me out of lousy old Dreamworld for a while. And I finally get my revenge on that retarded asshole," he snarled the last bit, with an angry look over his shoulder at the still open doors of the plant. Kim walked out then, glancing around and spotting the two of them and walking slowly over to join them. To Angie, it looked as if she was preparing herself for a fight with the evil Dream Master standing next to her. But in the real world that was a fight she couldn't possibly hope to win. She stopped a foot away from Freddy and her friend. She and Freddy stared each other down, each refusing to be the first to look away. Finally, Kim let out a sigh.

"Thank you," she said, resentment coloring the back of her tone. "For helping me and Angie."

Freddy stared at her for another moment before nodding. "I'll see you in a while Ang," he told the girl next to him. Both girls blinked in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked cautiously.

"You're sending me back, are you not?" Freddy asked her.

"You'll _let_ me?" Kim asked incredulously. Freddy shrugged again, a wry grin on his mouth.

"We did have a deal, after all."

**So was that cool? Or should I go back and add more detail? Let me know!**

**Freddy: Yes! I finally killed Jason!**

**Angie: (sarcastically) My hero.**

**Kim: (laughing) **

**Erik: (shaking head) **


	22. Sleepless Nights

**I am REALLY sorry it has taken me this long to update. Really, really, really sorry. But in my defense, I was sick as a dog over Easter Break and didn't really feel like doing anything. Who gets sick on vacation I ask you! Then I was gonna update but Angie wanted to go over the next chapter with me, but she was in Florida so I had to wait. And Ring Night is tonight so I was running around all week like a chicken without a head…**

**Freddy: Excuses, excuses, excuses. **

**Me: Shut the hell up. Oh, and another thing. I would REALLY like to update this fic now, SO CAN YOU ALL PLEASE TAKE THE TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS OUT OF HERE AND LET ME GET OFF THE CEILING!**

**Reviewers: (blinking. Slowly leave the room.)**

**Angie: --**

**Me: (sarcastic) And thanks for all the help by the way.**

**Erik: No problem. **

**Disclaimer: Oh go away and leave me alone. **

Chapter 22: Sleepless Nights

Angie tossed fitfully on the bed, grumbling angrily. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get to sleep. She had thought that after tonight's events she would been asleep before her head hit the pillow, but instead it had the opposite effect. She was way to full of energy to sleep. With an angry sigh she climbed out of bed and entered the bathroom, rooting around in the medicine cabinet for the sleeping pills. She swore angrily when she couldn't find any. She could have sworn that they had a bottle!

What Angie didn't know was that the bottle was still in the bathroom, in fact not more than half a foot from her, nestled in between the cabinet and the toilet. When Kim had snagged a few sleeping pills earlier she had been in too much of a rush to put the bottle away, and as a consequence it had fallen off the side of the cabinet to the floor where Angie now couldn't see it. Snarling angrily, Angie went back to her bed and threw herself into it, willing herself to fall asleep. No such luck.

Finally giving up, Angie sat up and looked at the clock. It had only been half an hour since she had come to the hotel. Kim had gone to pick up Christine and still wasn't back yet. Angie put her head in her hands, wondering what to do. She wondered vaguely if Raziel was awake, then grinned evilly. Scrawling a quick note to Kim, which she left on the night table, she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.

The walk to Elmstreet was long, longer then she really would have liked, but when she got to Raziel's she still wasn't tired. Grumbling she headed up the walk and used her key on the door.

"Hey Raziel! You home?" she called as soon as she walked through the door. Raziel walked lazily into the hall and leaned against a wall.

"You know some of us actually like to sleep at this time of night," he drawled.

"Well "some of us" must not refer to you, considering you're up," Angie quipped. Raziel smirked in response.

"Isn't it dangerous to be out with Jason roaming around?" he asked her, gesturing her to follow him.

"Not anymore," Angie said smugly. "He's currently the source of a merry little campfire up at the Power Plant."

Raziel looked back, his eyebrows raised.

"From your expression I take it that you and your friend had something to do with that?" he asked, rather rhetorically, so Angie didn't bother to answer. He led her into the den and flopped down on the couch, gesturing vaguely for her to sit down.

"Where is your friend anyway?" he asked.

"Picking up Christine," she said vaguely, then frowned, not noticing Raziel's suddenly angry expression. "I also said she should see a doctor. Jason shoved her down the stairs and I think she fractured her arm or something, but it really started hurting her when we were heading back to the hotel." Raziel blinked in surprise and glanced sideways at Angie, but she was staring thoughtfully at the wall.

She hadn't been near enough to Jason and a staircase for Camp Crystal Lake's killer to shove her down one while he'd been at the Power Plant, which meant that it had happened before she had plunged recklessly in Dreamworld to pull him out. But she certainly hadn't appeared hurt when she had been fighting him. Which meant that she was either lying, or she was a far more competent Dream Master then he was giving her credit for. In either case he'd think about it later.

"Why don't you get a soda or something," Razile prompted, and Angie almost automatically rose from her seat to walk to the kitchen. The caffeine might help keep her awake at any rate. "Hey, while you're up get me one too," Raziel called after her. Angie rolled her eyes.

"Whatever Freddy," she muttered back. Then she froze, one hand on the doorframe. _Oh shit_, she swore silently, turning back to look at Raziel with the classic deer-trapped-in-headlights look. Raziel in the meantime was staring at her in shock.

"What did you say?" he finally managed.

Angie was tempted to say "nothing," but knew he wouldn't believe it. Instead she stayed silent, her mouth dead refusing to function. Raziel's eyes narrowed.

"How long have you known?" he asked quietly, standing up slowly. His narrow-eyed glare was directed solely at her, and Angie fought down a panic-stricken urge to flee.

"Did your friend tell you?" Raziel asked, seeming to get angrier. Angie felt like a mouse, being watched by a hungry cat. He'd _never_ been angry like this before, well not at her anyway.

"No, no Kim didn't tell me," she finally managed to say. "I figured it out last night on my own. Look, I'm sorry, I'll leave," she said in a rush, turned, and bolted.

"Angie, wait!" Raziel yelled after her.

_No way in hell_, Angie thought. She had locked the front door, and with Raziel chasing after her she wouldn't have time to unlock it. She ran instead into the dining room, diving for a cabinet up against the wall and scrambling into it. She heard Raziel looking through the living room before coming into the dining room. But apparently he didn't think that she would hide in a cabinet because he didn't look through it. She could still hear him swearing as he left the room. Slipping out of the cabinet Angie walked to the door and peeked through. He was looking in the kitchen for her now. Angie was still reluctant to try the door, figuring he'd hear it and come running. She recalled the first time she came hear, and decided to try the trellis. She ran for the stairs, padding up them as quickly and quietly as she could.

Raziel poked through the kitchen, swear words still tumbling from his lips. _Great, just great. Way to handle the situation, you idiot_! He swore at himself. _Now she's hiding, just fing great_. But then again, what else would she do? She thought he was mad, no check that, furious at her. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

He'd been surprised when she called him Freddy, he didn't think she had figured it out yet, and so he had jumped to the conclusion that her stupid bitch of a friend had told her. He had been mad at Kim, not her! He didn't think he _could_ be mad at her. Snarling at himself he turned to leave the kitchen, and heard a muffled squeak from the stairs. He looked up, a feral grin on his face. _So that's where she went_, he thought with a chuckle. He closed his eyes, effortlessly manipulating the Dream Energy that surrounded his house.

Angie sprinted down the hall, opening the door she remembered led to the room she had climbed into the first time she had 'dropped by.' She entered the room swiftly, closing the door softly behind her. But when she turned around and started across the room she blinked in surprise. This wasn't the spare room, this was Raziel's room.

_What the hell_? She thought. _I could've sworn I went the right way_. She turned to leave, and bumped smack into Raziel. With a startled yelp she tried to jump backwards, but Raziel had an arm wrapped firmly around her, preventing her from going anywhere.

"So you figured it out," he said, his face inches from hers. Angie's eyes were wide as plates. She looked like a rabbit that had been caught by a fox. Raziel couldn't resist a superior smirk at the thought. "Is that why you went to the Power Plant? You were hoping I was there?"

Angie nodded, her face slipping from frightened to confused. Raziel still hadn't moved his arm. She was reminded of that night in the back of the nightclub, they had been standing almost just like this then too.

She gave a muffled squeak as Raziel suddenly jerked her closer to him, claiming her lips with his. Angie closed her eyes, firmly ignoring her mind as it shouted angrily at her. Rasiel finally pulled away from her a few inches, a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

"I hate you, you know," Angie hissed unconvincingly.

"Do you now?" asked Raziel, grinning wickedly.

"Yes. I really do," Angie said, before firmly leaning forward and kissing him. Raziel fully returned the gesture, one arm locked around her waist, the other moving from tangling in her hair, to running down her back. She shivered, her own arms firmly locked around his shoulders. It wasn't much longer before Raziel's shirt was lying in a crumpled heap at their feet.

_When did that happen_? Angie thought vaguely. And when her own shirt joined his she wondered vaguely again, _And when did_ that_ happen_? She felt the back of her legs bump gently into the bed. Raziel was breathing rather hard, but then so was she. One of his hands brushed up her back and began to finger with her bra strap gently, almost as if asking her permission. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and let her thoughts scatter to the winds.

Kim was wandering in Dreamworld later that night, or morning, however one chose to view it. She had picked Christine up from the diner she had told her ward to wait in, almost getting knocked off her feet when the girl had launched herself like a cannon ball into Kim's arms. Which had caused Kim to bite back a scream of pain as the pain in her left arm exploded back to life. Christine had insisted on their driving to a hospital to have Kim's arm checked out, and Kim hadn't really put up much of an argument.

It turned out that Jason had fractured her arm when he shoved her down the stairs earlier. The fracture was halfway between her wrist and elbow, and she currently wore a light cast around her lower arm. In the real world anyway, here in Dreamworld her arm was just fine.

By the time the two of them had returned to the motel it was nearly dawn, and they had both wearily prepared for bed. Christine had firmly curled against her guardian to fall asleep, Diva and Aria at her back and Samara at their feet.

Kim now held the note that Angie had left her, and looked down to reread it.

_-Kim_

_I couldn't sleep, so I went to go see Raziel. I'll be back later._

_-Angie_

_You know Angie, somehow I don't think you will_, Kim thought as she looked around Elmstreet. There was not a sign of Freddy anywhere, and she couldn't feel the evil aura he gave off at all. _No, I don't think you'll be back for a while Angie_, Kim thought, and with a smile turned and walked away.

**Like it? Hate it? Let me know! I know it's been a long time since I updated, and I know I'm driving you all insane, but my AP US History exam is coming up soon, so I'm even more pressed for time with studying and other homework I'm getting. Also my art club (which I am the president of) is putting on its annual art show soon. Being the president is cool, until you have to stay till 6:00 every day setting up, and 9:00 the night of the show itself. _Then_ try fitting in homework and study because my exam is the same week! So cut me a little slack until the middle of May, okay?**

**Anyway, RING NIGHT IS TONIGHT! I GET MY CLASS RING! YAY! **

**Freddy: And we care because? (Is hit in the head by various items thrown by me. Eyes turn into anime type spirals as he lies on the floor.)**

**Erik: (pokes Freddy with a stick) Are you dead?**

**Me: Anyway I hope you all liked this chapter. This was for you Angie! Next time I'll try getting in a few reviewer responses, so make sure you review! Ja ne. **


	23. Songbird

**It's been forever since I last updated, hasn't it?**

**Freddy: yes it has.**

**Me: No one asked you. Anyway, for the time from my last update till the end of June I have a very good reason. I got my 3rd quarter report card right after that update and my parents discovered I was failing math and chemistry with a 55 and a 54 respectively. **

**Angie: ouch.**

**Me: tell me about it. They banned me from fanfiction for the rest of the school year in response. Now I was able to sneak on in spare minutes at school to read it, but otherwise was going to reviews almost every day, and my parents strictly monitored my computer time at home. So that sucked. **

**Freddy: (sharpening glove) I'll take care of them for you.**

**Me: (ties up Freddy) No you won't. Anyway, I worked my ass off and passed both subjects for the year. Then summer started and I really don't have an excuse for those first two weeks except for you know how fast time flies during the summer. Then I was away in Key West and visiting my cousins in Virginia for two and a half weeks which was REALLY fun. The keys are fantastic! They're BEAUTIFUL and-**

**Freddy and Angie: WE KNOW!**

**Me: (throws rocks at them) anyway, after we got back my parents had me and my siblings bring our entire bedrooms to our new rooms on the second story, which took DAYS. We still haven't set everything up yet (though I blame that on lack of furniture and shelves.) But I have air conditioning now, although I share a room with my sister. (Groan) And I work in a grooming saloon. (I'm working all week) So all in all I have no idea where my time went. But while I was in Virginia my cousin Danny sold me a laptop computer for cheap, so now I can type in my bedroom and I don't have limited typing time on the downstairs computer. (just limited reading and posting time, because we lack a wireless router for my laptop and the neighborhood lacks people I can boost from.) So updates SHOULD occur faster from now on. **

**Freddy: Ah yes, we have heard that one before. (Is hit on the head by rock thrown by me.) Anyway I bet you're all sick of my babbling so on with the story!**

Chapter 23: Songbird

Angie woke slowly the next morning, roused by the semi-light leaking in through the partially opened curtains. She yawned, stretching to work out the kinks that had manifested during the night. She heard a chuckle from beside her and rolled over, still blinking sleep from her eyes to see Raziel sitting in the bed next to her, testing the sharpness of his glove-blades. Satisfied that they were good and sharp he tossed them in the air, where they promptly disappeared.

"Sleep well?" he asked, a smirk on his face.

"Well enough," Angie muttered, flushing a little as she sat up. Raziel nodded, leaning back against the headboard, his face suddenly contemplative.

"You know, every time anyone speaks of me they call me a monster, or something along those lines.

"You call yourself that," Angie commented dryly.

"But you never did," Raziel said, turning his head to look her full in the eyes. Angie shrugged.

"Well other than the fact that you're a psychopathic murderer." A ghost of a grin flitted across Raziel's face. "I've seen the man behind the murderer," Angie continued. "And, well, he's not as evil as they say he is. And I find I rather like him."

"But why? Why are you the first one to see me differently than everyone else?" Raziel pressed. Angie considered the question, not really sure how to answer. Heck, she wasn't even sure if there _was_ a good answer to that question. She finally settled for a quote she had heard Kim use a time or two.

"None can choose where they will love," she said with a shrug, praying she had gotten it right.

"You quoted something," Raziel accused.

"Yeah, I did. So what?" Angie responded. "It's true. I can't explain it, and I don't know anyone who can. So why not just accept it for what it is?" she reasoned, not sure where this sudden flood of intellect was coming from. But whatever it was, it worked. Raziel began to smile, then with no warning whatsoever snagged the back of her neck with one hand and kissed her hard. Angie's mind reeled and she grabbed for his shoulder to keep herself from pitching to any side. Raziel took this as an excuse to firmly hold on to her.

"You know," Angie whispered after a while. "You exist for real in Dreamworld, real as this form may be you can't even leave town. I could move here easily," she said before Raziel could say anything. "But because you live as a Dream Demon, you're going to live forever. I'm not," she finished. She felt Raziel's arms tighten around her, as if trying to shield her from the effects of time by mere presence.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it," he swore into her ear in a fierce whisper. She didn't know what anyone could do against mortality, the dream demons would hardly offer her a contract, and she doubted even Freddy/Raziel could convince them to. But she didn't say anything, merely relaxed against him. They stayed in that position for a while, before Angie became conscious of the fact that her head was incredibly itchy, and that she was rather sweaty and sticky.

"Raziel, I am in desperate need of a shower," she announced. Raziel laughed.

"I was wondering when you would catch on to that fact," he quipped as he released her, standing up pulling on a pair of shorts and tossing her an oversized tee-shirt.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Angie yelled as she tugged on the tee-shirt, stumbling after him out of the room. "Hey, Raziel!" She followed him into the bathroom, yelling at his back the entire way.

Grumbling as she was ignored Angie reached around the annoying dream demon to turn on the shower, making it as hot as she could stand it before stripping off the tee-shirt and stepping in. To her surprise she was followed by Raziel.

"What are you doing?" she sputtered.

"Taking a shower," Raziel said matter-of-factly, reaching over her head to the shelf for the shampoo. "You know," he commented as Angie gapped at him. "As refreshing as hot water is, if you really want to get clean I would recommend using soap." Angie snapped her mouth shut, scowling at her boyfriend before turning around to fiddle with the soap bar. She kept her back to Raziel, which left him in the perfect position to wash her back, which he began to do with relish, chuckling when she snapped her head around to stare at him.

"Loosen up," Raziel suggested, leaning close enough to lick her cheek. Angie answered by kissing him, and both of them forgot about washing for a while.

"Where's Angie? I haven't seen her since yesterday," Christine commented after breakfast.

"She's out," Kim responded vaguely, not looking up from her book, a smirk on her face.

"Out?" Christine asked. "I take it you're not telling me where?"

"You take it correctly," Kim said, trying hard not to laugh. "So what are you up to doing today? I'm open for suggestion." Christine shrugged, idly waving a piece of string under Aria's nose and watching the Siamese try to eat it.

"I guess we could see a movie," she suggested half-heartedly.

"Nothing's playing," Kim said. "Hey I know! We can go to that club! We can get lunch and make fun of the bad music they play!" With this idea in mind she sprang up and began tugging on her converse.

"But that's a nightclub," Christine protested.

"So? That means there won't be as many people during the day."

"But, but," Christine fumbled ineffectively for another excuse.

"Oh come on," Kim snorted. "It's better than sitting around doing nothing all day. And I can't exactly do anything invigorating," she argued, waving her lightly wrapped, fractured wrist through the air to make a point. With a sigh of resignation Christine slipped on her shoes and followed her new guardian out to the car. It seemed to the girl that almost no time passed before they were parking, getting out of the car, and entering the night club turned restaurant.

_Maybe, just maybe_… she thought hopefully.

"Do my eyes deceive me? Or has our little songbird come back to pay us a visit?" The store manager himself had come to greet them.

_Or maybe not_, Christine thought with a sigh. _So much for staying anonymous_.

"Hi," she said shyly, trying not to look Kim in the eye.

"Songbird?" Kim asked.

"You haven't heard her sing yet?" the manager asked incredulously. "She really is something, our little Christine," he said, affectionately patting the girl on the shoulder. "She used to be in here quite often, always singing for us. Come, come, I'll seat you," he said suddenly, leading them to a table rather close to the mike, dropping a not so subtle hint that he was eager to hear his little "songbird" to sing again. "So what'll it be?" he asked, pulling out a pad and pen.

"BLT and a root-beer," Kim said.

"Cheeseburger and pepsi," Christine said.

"Coming right up," the manager said with a smile. Christine waited, tensely perched on the edge of her seat, looking determinedly anywhere but at Kim.

"You do realize that you are going to be singing, right?" Kim asked. Christine groaned.

"This is why I didn't want to come here," she muttered. "It's humiliating."

"For you maybe," Kim said with an evil grin. "For me it's fun." But Christine looked so utterly miserable that Kim relented. "Oh all right, how's this? You do a few songs and I'll go up and sing one, deal?"

"But you can't sing," Christine said with a frown.

"Gee, thanks for the support," Kim muttered.

"I didn't mean it like that! You just said that you can't and you don't like to, so I thought-" Christine stuttered to a stop as Kim burst out laughing.

"I was teasing you, baka girl. You're right I can't sing, but if you do I will too." Christine considered it for a moment, then smiled.

"All right, it's a deal."

"So our little songbird is going to grace us with a few tunes?" the manager asked, returning with their food and drinks.

"After she eats," said Kim with a quiet force. The manager chuckled, gave them a wave, and returned to the front of the store, calling over his shoulder. "Let me know when you're ready."

"What are you going to sing? Something from Phantom?" Christine queried before biting gratefully into her burger.

"Heck no. I don't have the range or training for that," Kim said. She pondered for a few minutes while she ate her sandwich, then a smile began to form on her face. "I think I have an idea. Wait here while I run out to the car," she said and was gone like a shot. She was back before long, several cd cases in her hands, most of them burned rewritable ones.

"What's on those?" Christine asked curiously.

"You'll just have to wait and see," Kim said, winking.

_Well, no use putting this off any longer_, Christine thought rather grimly as she approached the microphone. She repressed a hysterical giggle and fought back the urge to tap it and say "testing, testing." She took a deep breath, waiting for the music to start. One thing to be grateful for, other than Kim and the workers, (and let us not forget the overly-enthusiastic manager) there were very few other people (namely three) in the club to watch her. She glanced over at her guardian, who seemed to be thinking along those lines as well as she glanced around. She flashed a grin at Christine as the music started. The girl took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and sang. As her eyes were closed she completely missed seeing Kim tumble from her chair in shock, then ignore the fact that she was seated on the floor for a good half minute, jaw nearly hitting the ground.

"Told you she was good," the manager whispered to her as she seated herself again.

"No damn kidding," Kim muttered. "Did she ever take lessons?" she asked.

"Never," the manager said.

"Well she's getting them if I have to clear my bank account," Kim said firmly. She didn't see the manager smile to himself before he walked away. Christine went through three songs before trotting back over to the table and sinking into a chair, twisting her chocolate colored hair over one shoulder to get it out of her face.

"There," she said firmly. "I'm done. Your turn." Kim couldn't think of anything to say, so instead she leaned across the table and swooped the girl into a quick hug.

"Be right back," she said and marched over to the mike. "How did I let myself agree to this?" she wondered. "Ah well. Too late to back out now." She listened for the familiar tune, smirking as she waited. She was so glad she had taken the time to memorize this song.

_Doushite doushite suki nan darou_

_Konna ni namida afureteru… _

Christine nearly spit out her drink, ending up choking on it instead. She stared in shock at Kim from over her glass. The woman was singing in Japanese. Which meant that she had either memorized the song by rote, (which would mean that she had more time on her hands than should be strictly allowed) or that she was decently fluent in Japanese.

Working past her shock Christine turned a 'singer's ear' on Kim's singing. She wasn't good, definitely not trained, but she sounded like she was having the time of her life. A few lessons might clean her up alright, although she would never be able to make a career out of it, although from what she knew of the woman she wouldn't make a career out of it even if she was rated one of the best singers in the world. She hated publicity and much preferred writing.

When the song was over Kim went back to the manager to collect her cd's, paid the bill, and the two girls left.

"Hey Kim, I have a suggestion about your singing," Christine said.

"Shoot," Kim said as she unlocked the car.

"Don't quit your day job," Christine said with an evil grin.

"Oh you little…!" Kim sputtered, then chased the girl across the parking lot, giving her a firm noogie before letting her go, Chris laughing the whole time, having more fun then she could remember having in a long time.

As they were pulling out of the parking lot Kim's cell phone rang. Without checking the number she opened it and answered.

"Heyla." She listened for a minute, then glanced at the girl in the seat next to her, a grin forming on her face. "You don't say. Yeah, we'll be right there." Curious, Christine glanced at Kim as she hung up the cell. "We, my girl, have somewhere to go. I need to see a man about some papers. After that we need to celebrate. What do you say to getting a dog?"

Angie sat at the kitchen table, eating a late breakfast with Raziel. Food was one thing he didn't materialize out of dream world, because while dream food could taste as delicious as one wanted it lacked one important quality. The quality of being _real_. Food summoned from dream world would leave one as hungry as before they started eating. So the bacon and eggs Angie was munching on were store-bought and stove cooked. A feat for which Raziel was rather proud of himself. They were just finishing up breakfast, putting the dishes (which _were_ dreamworld products) in the sink where they were magically cleaned, the stains vanishing instantly. (As if Freddy would ever do something as menial as the dishes.) Angie's cell phone, in her pocket and left on from the night before went off, playing the tune to a Ramstein song.

"Yeah?" she answer, a little irritated. Kim was screeching so loudly in joy at the other end that Angie was forced to hold the phone away from her head for fear of her ears being blasted out.

"I got them Angie! I got the papers!"

"Great! What papers?"

"Christine's papers, baka! She's officially mine! They didn't have a choise! Her foster dad was at the park yesterday, he was one of Jason's victims! They had no where else to put her and had way to get out of giving her to me!"

"Um, great," Angie said in a falsely bright tone. Raziel looked at her questioningly from where he was leaning against the counter. Angie held up a finger and turned back to her hyper friend on the other end of the phone.

"We're celebrating Angie! Get ready, I'll be there soon, okay?"

"And where are we going?" Angie asked, rubbing her eyes to ward off a pending migraine.

"There's a kennel at the other end of town, we're getting a dog!"

"A dog? We live in a city apartment Kim, have you gone mental?"

"Haven't gone there, always been there," Kim retorted. "And not for long we're not there. We have a two bedroom little thing Ang. I made a bundle from my last book, we should start looking for a house now. Maybe something in the next town over, hmm?" Her voice took on a suddenly evilly teasing tone. "After all, we don't want you to be too far away from _Raziel_, now do we?" While Angie sputtered, then found her voice and screeched a few well chosen curses, earning an approving stare from Raziel, Kim cackled with laughter. "I'll be there in a few minutes Ang, get Raziel ready he might as well come with if you're getting a dog you'll have to get one that he'll get along with. See you in a bit." Without another word Kim clicked off her cell, leaving Angie hitting her head on the other end.

"And that was about?" Raziel asked.

"We're getting a dog, put your shoes on," Angie said with a sigh as she put on her own.

"Oh, we are? And when were you informed of this and when were you planning on informing me?"

"About 30 seconds ago to both questions," Angie muttered. Raziel shook his head.

"I take it that friend of yours is taking us?" he asked, though it really was more of a statement. Angie nodded, though she didn't really need to.

"Come on, it won't be that bad," Angie said. "You need to come help me pick out a dog anyway," she said as she all but dragged the scowling dream demon to the door.

Kim pulled up as he was locking the door. She and he scowled at each other, trading their customary death glares as he climbed into the backseat of the car, Angie following.

"Behave you two," Angie snapped as if she were talking to pre-schoolers. Kim muttered darkly but put the car in gear and drove off all the same. Christine poked her head around the seat to smile a greeting at Angie, but ducked back around when she saw the predatory way that Raziel stared at her. Kim glared lasers at him through the rear-view mirror.

Tension had reached new heights by the time they pulled up to the kennel. Almost everyone was relieved to jump from the car and leave the tension-chocked atmosphere behind them, not that it really got any better, it now just had more room to spawn. When they got inside Kim approached the lady behind the desk, keeping Christine as far from Raziel as the small group permitted.

"Hi, I'm Kim, I called a while ago," she said. The lady looked up and smiled.

"Ah yes, you wanted to adopt a dog. Follow me," she said cheerily. The small group filed after her to a door at the back of the room that led to the kennel in the back.

"Just look around. When you find one you like come get me," the woman said, waving and vanishing back through the door. Kim and Christine instantly began to search through the cages, bending to play with a few of the dogs.

Angie, in the meantime, was browsing though another row of cages. She was trying not to laugh too hard, because none of the dogs seemed to like Raziel. Even the little ones were trying to bite through their cages to attack him. He scowled at them all in return, looking increasingly uncomfortable as they wandered farther into the kennel.

A yap caught Angie's attention as she was preparing to turn around again. Looking down she saw a little Doberman puppy scratching eagerly at the door of his cage, waving his stump of a tail back and forth. Angie bent down and stuck her fingers in the cage, which the hyper dog began to lick. Ignoring the snarling dogs in the cages on either side of the Doberman's, he also stuck his fingers in the cage. The happy puppy turned to lick his fingers too.

"Cute dog," Raziel grunted.

"Yeah," Angie said. "I want him," she declared, standing up. Seeing her about to leave, the puppy again began to attack the cage.

"Then get him," Raziel said disinterestedly, but Angie noticed that he was watching the dog from the corner of his eye, the only dog in the place that didn't want to tear off his hand.

"Did you find someone?" the front desk lady asked as she walked around to them, followed by Kim and Christine. In Kim's arms was a happy St. Bernard puppy. When it caught sight of Raziel it began growling. Raziel rolled his eyes.

"I want him," Angie said, pointing to the Doberman. The lady smiled brightly and walked over to unlock his cage. Angie thought that the level of cheeriness that this woman gave off should be made illegal. She held out her arms for the puppy, who began licking up her face, then leaned over to sniff at the puppy Kim was cradling in her arms. The two dogs happily began barking as they were brought to another small room and set on the floor as the two girls began filling out the paperwork necessary to adopt the dogs.

"What are you going to name them?" the lady asked curiously.

"Hellboy," Kim said with a smirk as the dog ran into the other one and they went toppling over, yipping at the top of their lungs. Christine laughed, sitting on the floor to wrestle with them.

"Melchaiah," Angie said. "What?" she asked defensively. "It's a cool name." She ignored the shaking heads in the room and signed the name to the paper. "All done," she announced, handing the stack to the woman. Kim did so as well a moment later, then turned to grin at her friend.

"Told you you'd be glad you came," she said triumphantly. Angie ignored her, picked up her dog and walked out to the car with Raziel, followed by Kim and Christine, who were babying the little puppy in Kim's arms. None of them noticed the black cat that watched them on their way out of the store, and when Kim turned to look back, feeling the gaze, it had gone.

**baka- idiot. Also means stupid or dumb. In this context it's being used affectionately. **

** Doushite doushite suki nan darou/ Konna ni namida afureteru… **

**Why, oh why do I love you so much/ My tears overflow this much…**

**-opening from song _Myself_ by group _Changin' My Life_. I heard the song in the anime _Full Moon o Sagashite (Look for the Full Moon)_. I in no way own the song, group, or anime. Though I rather wish I owned (characters) Takto and Izumi…**

**Yes it has been a long time. I promise to begin work on the next chapter tonight, I'll have it out within the week. Again I apologize for the long wait. Ja ne! (See you!)**


	24. Return of the Roller Coaster

**Konichiwa! Been a while huh?**

**Freddy: Do we really need to comment on that? **

**Me: (throws a paperweight at him) Anyway the last time I wrote an amusement park side chapter I got some good reviews, so I'm doing another one! Yay! Funness! And I get to poke the hell out of Freddy again! Whoo! **

**Freddy: (hiding under chair) No you don't, I'm not going.**

**Me and Angie: Yes you are. **

**Freddy: -- …**

**Me: Once again I take no credit for anything Freddy, and any stupid fear or paranoia that surface in this chapter are mere spoof and not meant to be taken seriously. At all. But they are funny, hehehe. Oh by the way, has anyone seen Erik? He seems to have disappeared…**

**Erik: I was wondering when you were going to notice…**

**Me: Yay! I found you! (glomps) **

**Erik:…**

**Disclaimer: Go away. **

Chapter 23: Return of the Roller Coaster

It was two weeks after they had gotten the dogs, and just a little over a week since the girls had returned to their city apartment. They were making plans to move out, Angie to Springwood and Kim was looking for a house in a town about an hour and a half away. The deciding factor for her decision in that town was that it had a school that specialized in the performing arts, and Kim had wasted no time in securing Christine a place for the next year. Now she just had to secure a house. She had an eye on one that had just been put on the market, a four bedroom two story house on the edge of town. It was a little big for just two people, but Angie said that she would be visiting all the time, so one of the two spare rooms was to be declared hers, and they could always entertain company when they got lonely. And besides, they had Hellboy now.

The little puppy was growing a little at a time, already half a size bigger than when they had first gotten him, and he was promising to have a sudden growth spurt in the near future, and with Angie's dog Melchaiah in the apartment all three girls were rather eager to move someplace larger sometime soon.

"Hey Kim, I've been thinking," Angie called as she entered the living room.

"Don't hurt yourself," Kim returned, not looking up from brushing out Hellboy's impossible fur.

"It's been a long time since- HEY!" Kim snickered at her fuming friend.

"Slow," she snorted. "So what have you been thinking?"

"It's been a long time since we went to that amusement park of yours, the one in dreamworld. Why don't we all hang out there tonight?"

"I take it that by 'all of us' you're including Raziel and Christine in that equation?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, I'll talk to Raziel," Angie said. Kim shrugged.

"Well I don't see why not then." Angie grinned, then sauntered back into her room. Christine wandered in from the kitchen, a glass of iced tea in her hand, looking confusedly at Kim.

"Where are we going?"

"So why are we going back here again?" Raziel complained later that night as he and Angie wandered down the paths of dreamworld on their way to the park.

"Because it's fun and I feel like it," Anige returned, reaching down to pat Melchaiah, who was nipping at her ankles playfully.

"I don't do fun," Raziel muttered.

"Well I can think of a few things to do after an _invigorating_ day out," Angie said in a suggestive tone, her eyes batting innocently. Raziel decided not to say anything else on the subject.

They came up to the park gates then, Kim leaning casually against them, an arm loosely draped around Christine's waist. The girl was clinging furiously to her guardian, eyeing Raziel like she was a fish and he was a shark. Of course since he was eyeing her like he was a starving man and she was a tender steak that he was ordered not to eat the reaction was natural.

"Took you long enough to get here," Kim said dryly, inconspicuously tightening her grip on her ward. "Well let's go, let's go! Roller coasters are calling!"

"What should we do first?" Christine asked, staring wide-eyed at all the rides around.

"Start in the front and work our way back," Angie suggested, nodding to the steel track coaster to the left. "Remember this one Kim?" she asked with an evil smirk at Raziel, who scowled at her.

"Hell yeah," Kim said with an evil snigger.

"It looks tall," Christine said worriedly. The two girls laughed.

"You've never been to an amusement park, have you Christine?" Angie asked. Christine shook her head in mute agreement. The older girls exchanged calculating grins. It was time to have some fun. Kim dreamwalked the group onto the platform and they chose seats, Angie and Raziel in the front two seats of the last car, Kim and Christine in the last seats. The car began its climb up the track with Raziel yawning in boredom, Christine shivering in fear, Angie chewing her lip, and Kim staring out to the sides and randomly shouting "Hey! I can see (insert random object here)" at regular intervals. Then the car shot over the top of the hill and all four of them were shrieking with glee/fright/or just for an excuse to shriek. (No one questions Raziel's reasons for anything.)

They leapt out of the car laughing and scurried off to collect some pictures of it, Raziel, unsurprisingly flipping the bird for the camera. Kim rolled her eyes when she saw this. On their way to the next coaster they passed a lemonade stand and Kim handed out four cups of the freshly squeezed citrus juice, then with a grin produced a sliced lemon and began to suck the juice. With a shudder Raziel averted his gaze and stalked to the front of the group. Kim ignored the weird looks she was getting from Christine, finished her lemon and drink, pitched the remains of both, and joined the other two as they climbed the steps to the next coaster, a suspended "flight" one where the rider is positioned lying on their stomach as if they are flying once on the track. This was a new ride, added after Kim, Angie, and Freddy's first jaunt here, and Raziel was quite literally manhandling Angie into a seat. Kim took a seat next to her friend, Christine on her other side, once again as far from Freddy as she could get.

"You're not gonna help me?" Angie demanded of her friend. Kim gave her a look and Angie started grumbling as the train started to move. "Right. Stupid question."

"Extremely," Kim said just before the train shot from 5 mph to 75 mph in two seconds flat. Angie swore she left a cartoon like image of herself where the train had been just seconds before, like something out of Bugs Bunny. One thing she knew for sure, she NEVER wanted to fly AGAIN. Flying was NOT FUN, despite popular opinion. Of course she seemed to be the only one in the group who held this particular opinion. Standing in the photo booth with her hair standing up around her head she stared at the picture onscreen, sweatdropping spectacularly. There she was, screaming like a banshee and clutching the harness for dear life while Raziel, next to her, looked bored and composed, Kim had her arms extended super-man style, Christine imitating her, their pony-tailed hair flying elegantly behind them.

"I hate the three of you, just so you know," Angie muttered darkly. Kim hugged her from behind.

"No you don't," she said, all bright and perky. The next thing Angie knew, she was seated on yet another roller coaster. She turned to glare death at her friend. "_Now_ you hate me," Kim clarified.

"Now I'm going to KILL yooooouuuuuuuuaaaaaarrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhh!"

The other three were to busy laughing at Angie's shrill, terrified outcry to pay attention to the ride. Which of course meant that they had to go around again. And then a third time just for the hell of it. And then leave their gasping-for-breath friend sitting in the car as they all ran for dear life. Angie caught up with them as they were moving through the line for the Congo Rapids and proceeded to mentally mutate a random stick into a crowbar, and then chase Kim around with the heavy metal rod held ready over her head. This lasted about five minutes before Raziel got bored and neatly plucked the bar from Angie as she passed and tossed it to the side, where it promptly disappeared. Muttering death threats under her breath Angie clambered into the tube and strapped herself in, the others taking seats evenly spaced about the tube. Raziel started the ride going backwards and somehow managed to be directly under every waterfall or in the path of every splash, Angie in most of them. Kim and Christine, giggling, emerged from the ride virtually dry, and then ran for their lives as the soaking wet homicidal pair gave chase. Kim, knowing the park better than the rest, managed to lose the two, pulling the giggling Christine into a giftshop.

"Now what?" Kim's charge asked, wiping her eyes. Kim shrugged.

"I'd say give them a chance to cool down, ne? Now what do you say to a bit of shopping?"

Angie and Raziel sat outside an ice cream stand, Raziel licking a chocolate cone with rainbow sprinkles, Angie alternately munching on a strawberry shortcake ice cream snack. The two had come across a henna stand on the way and had chosen several designs they liked, which had then appeared where they had chosen. Angie sported the biohazard and radiation symbols on her opposing shoulders now, for instance.

"Hey look there," Angie said, pointing.

"It's a photo booth," Raziel commented dryly, popping the last of the ice cream cone into his mouth. He 'meeped' in protest as Angie seized his upper arm, dragging him forcefully into the booth.

"Let's see, it should be…this button," Angie said, not releasing Raziel's arm as he made vain attempts to pull away and leave the booth.

"C'mon Ang, this is stupid," he whined.

"Oh pipe down, now scowl," Angie commanded just before the flash went off.

"Don't you mean _smile_?" Raziel asked.

"No, I mean scowl. I hate smiling for pictures," Angie muttered. Which of course, was Raziel's signal to tickle the hell out of her just in time for the next flash. Which meant that the next picture was of her attempting to yank Raziel's hair out by the roots. After managing to pry her off Raziel kissed her, just in time for the fourth and last flash, but made no move to leave the booth.

A few minutes later a shriek of pain echoed outside, startling the two into whacking their heads against the wall. They stepped outside to see Christine staring after something that was leaving a cartoonish trail of white smoke behind it as it ran away screaming "My eyes! My eyes!" Angie glanced to the side of the booth and neatly plucked up the four pictures that were nestled in the slot. The front one was of the last one that had been taken, the one of her and Raziel's make-out-fest. She smirked evilly.

"Ummmm, is she gonna come back anytime soon?" Christine asked plaintively.

"Doubtful," Angie said with a leer.

But come back Kim did, five minutes later, her eyes bloodshot. Angie smirked.

"Well hello Kim. Eyes hurt some?" Angie asked.

"Shut up," her friend snapped.

"Did you squirt _lemon juice_ in your eyes?" Christine shrilled.

"Shut up," Kim repeated. "I DON'T want to hear it!" Kim snapped as Angie opened her mouth.

"Maybe not, but you certainly saw it," Raziel said with a leer. Snarling, Kim hurled three lemons at him, which he avoided.

"I'm scarred for life!" the girl shrieked. "I will NEVER get that image out of my head. Arrrggghhh!" Angie was doubled over in silent laughter.

The sun had risen in dreamworld and was steadily rising when the girls felt the pull that meant they were waking up. Kim wrapped an arm around Christine's shoulders and waved farewell to Raziel. He merely narrowed his eyes in response, glaring at Christine evilly as she disappeared from sight.

"I'll see you tonight," Angie said, giving him a farewell kiss on the cheek. Raziel yanked her close for a better one just before she vanished, waking up panting for air. Angie opened the fingers of her right hand, grinning as the little gold locket winked up at her in the dim light, Raziel's image, copied from the second picture taken, was emblazoned on the front. He looked so evil in that picture. The photos themselves sat neatly on her nightstand, and Angie climbed out of bed, clasped the locket around her neck, scooped up the pictures, and made plans to get them framed.

**Well there you go. My second roller coaster chapter. That was fun to type, you know, in the spare five to fifteen minutes I had each night when I wasn't squeezing in late homework. (Whistles innocently) **

**Freddy: (shaking in fear under Angie's chair) I'm traumatized for life. I hate roller coasters. Roller coasters bad. Very bad. Heights bad. Scary, scary, BAD!**

**Angie: Some evil dream demon _you_ are…**

**Erik: I'm scarier. **

**Me: Of course you are my evil cute widlle phantom. (Huggling beyond recall)**

**Erik: Can't…breathe…**

**Freddy: 0.o**

**Angie: And she said I was bad…**

**Read and Review!**


	25. Laws of Lightning

**Konichiwa minna! How've you all been? I've been busy being bombarded with college applications! Fun! Not. Anyway yeah, so I have had to do those and I've been busting my butt over art project on top of art project (I'm still behind) andI enteredabout 20 stories in the Schoolastic Writers Compition, so I've been really busy. Oh and I won a gold key for general portfolio and a gold key for scifi/fantasy, which ALSO won fold for the nationals, so all that hard work paid off, ne? So, yeah, I was busy. **

**Freddy: Too busy to annoy me.  
Me: No, there's always time for that. (Throws random heavy object at Freddy's head) **

**Anige: Hey, Kim! Freddy, get up!**

**Freddy: XX**

**Erik: (kicking Freddy) I think he's down for the count. Remind me never to annoy you. **

**Kim: Never annoy me.**

**Angie: (Rolls eyes)**

**Disclaimer: How long have you all been reading this now? 'Cause I think by now I've gotten the point across. **

**Chapter 24: Basic Laws of Lightning**

Angie pulled up outside Kim's house and parked. She stared at the house as she got out of the car; it was a two story whitewashed little place with a small front yard. Kim and Christine had already planted flowers along the front and Angie wrinkled her nose. She let Melcaiah out of the back, locked the car, deciding to retrieve her bags later and walked up to the door and rang the bell. As she waited something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head she saw a black cat with a white splotch across the right side of its face staring right at her with mismatched eyes; one blue, one bright, piercing gold.

_That cat is not normal_, Angie thought vaguely, briefly wondering why Melchaiah didn't chase it, then the door flew open and she promptly forgot the cat as she was nearly sent flying by the battering ram force of her best friend. Kim was squealing happily as she glomped Angie, neatly cutting off the girl's air supply as she squeezed tightly.

"Can't…breathe…" Angie whimpered desperately, clawing at her friend's arms. Kim didn't appear to notice until a hand tugged on her arm.

"Kim, you're strangling your best friend," Christine commented dryly.

"Ah? Gomen, Angie!" Kim shrieked, releasing her friend. Angie dropped to her knees and began gratefully choking down air while Kim sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"You tryin to kill me!" Angie demanded when she had gotten her breath back, standing up and smacking Kim on the shoulder. "It's been two weeks, not two years!"

"It felt like two years?" Kim offered hopefully.

"You want me to hurt you?" Angie asked darkly. Kim chuckled.

"Not really, no. Come on in, we'll show you around." Melchaiah had already darted through Angie's ankles and was happily exchanging sniffs, nips, and excited barks with Hellboy.

Angie followed Kim and Christine, suddenly remembering the cat she had seen and turning to look for it, but predictably it was gone. Shaking her head sharply, Angie closed the door and trotted to catch up with her friend and her friend's charge.

Angie was tugged off on a whirlwind tour of the house. The entrance hallway was about two paces long, than to the left was the living room which contained a fireplace, the t.v, a couch, some chairs, a coffee table, and a computer. At the far end of the living room was a doorway into the nook and kitchen. The kitchen was a nice size, all the cabinets and appliances along the inside wall, windows and a door to the backyard along the outside wall. As they passed, Kim opened the door and let out the dogs.

To the right of the entranceway was a small hallway. The first door was for a set of stairs that led to the basement, which the girls had converted into a small den complete with tv, every video game they owned, a stereo, an old couch, and a mess of things they had yet to organize. There was a bathroom in the basement, which also contained the washer and dryer. Back upstairs, the second door contained a bathroom, and the one down at the end of the short hallway contained a study which was cluttered with several desks and cabinets and two computers. Already there were papers strewn all over the place. Across from the door to the study was a set of stairs that led to the second story. Upstairs were the four bedrooms, another bathroom, and a few closets. There was a small one-car garage next to the house where all the stuff that had yet to be stored was currently kept. Angie wondered how many months it would take the girls to actually drag it all in, and then how many months it would take after that to set up or store it all in the proper places.

The last stop on the tour was the room that was to be Angie's. The two girls had already painted the walls black (although Kim had dead refused to climb a ladder and tile the ceiling. If Angie wanted the ceiling tiled, she said matter-of-factly, she could do it herself.)

"So after dinner we can set up your bed and furniture and start bringing in your things. What do you think?" Kim asked. Angie turned and grinned at her friend. Small, yeah, but considering that only two, and sometimes three, people were to be living here she figured it was big enough. And her room was certainly bigger than the one she had had back at her apartment.

"It's cool," she said. "Really cool. I finally get tiled walls, yes!" she exclaimed, punching the air. Neither girl had wanted to spend the money to pay the fee to paint the walls in their old apartment and had tacked posters to cover the blank white, so it was nice to be able to finally do what she wanted. She smirked as she planned the lay-out of her furniture in her head. Kim interrupted her thoughts.

"Figure your stuff out later, let's go start dinner!"  
"Wait, I'm helping!" Angie shrilled.

"Well yeah," Kim replied.  
"I hate cooking!" Angie complained.

"Five apples on a tree," Kim responded smugly. "Three good, too bad."

IIIII

Later that night in dreamworld Angie stood in her new room, looking around with an evil grin. Doing some quick layouts in her mind she set to work. First was the walls, she gave the tiles a rusted appearance. Next she turned to the pile of junk her friend had hauled in after she had fallen asleep. The pipes and cardboard she changed into a hospital bed with a thin metal frame, headbars, and footbars. The ceiling fan became mildewy and decrepit. An old cardboard box became a mist machine, which she activated, covering the floor almost instantly in a white fog so thick she couldn't even see her feet. The chest of drawers in the corner of the room became cold metal with an assortment of sharp objects scattered across the top. By the time she was done, Angie's room looked more like a mad scientist's lab than a bedroom, complete with a surgical table with restraints. Grinning maliciously, Angie wondered what Freddy would think of her new decorating techniques.

IIIII

Kim wandered into dreamworld on Elmstreet once more with a determined glint in her eyes. In her hands, for the first time since before the Christine and the Jason incident, she held the list she had comprised of Freddy's victims. Her eyes scanned it up and down a few times until they finally came to rest on Will Stanton's name. Will Stanton had been one of Kristen's friends from Weston Hills. In the real world he had been confined to a wheel chair but in dreamworld he had fought past the need for it and transformed himself into a comic book wizard to fight Freddy. He had, in the end, lost but he had managed to put a good fight. Kim nodded decisively and the list vanished.

"Here I go," she muttered, dreamwalking herself once again to the power plant. She began rifling through the layers Freddy had installed in this section of dreamworld, scanning each carefully before moving to the next until she found Will. Kim walked forward cautiously, used to Freddy's tricks and traps by now. She was surprised when she saw Will, his trap was one of the most unimpressive so far. He was trapped in a cage of green lightning, the very green lightning he had once wielded against Freddy. He was on the floor in the middle of the 'cage,' his legs crumpled beneath him. Clearly, Freddy had removed Will's dreaming ability to walk. Every so often one of the cage bars would slash to the center of the cage and strike Will, who would shrink back with a startled cry.

_Electricity_, Kim thought to herself as she watched. _I need to attract those bolts away from Will. Lightning _is_ electricity, so to do that…_ Her thoughts trailed off. Holding out her right hand she materialized her double-bladed dagger and threw it in one easy motion. It passed through the upper part of the electric cage and several of the 'bars' rose to grab it as it sailed through.

_Glad I didn't try reaching through that thing_, Kim thought, shuddering. She materialized several more of her weapons, tossing them to land point down in the ground on the opposite side of the cage. She had, by now, attracted Will's attention and he was watching her curiously. _Oh fun, an audience_, Kim thought sarcastically as she approached the cage. She was still ten feet from it when it lashed out with a strike of green lightning. Reacting quickly, Kim threw one of her daggers to the side and leaped back a step. The lightning tracked the dagger. Smiling triumphantly, Kim kept approaching, using the same trick several more times until she was close enough to the cage to touch it.

"I'm gonna need your help now kid," she said conversationally to Will. "Up to it?"

"Who are you?" Will asked, eyes flashing with mistrust.

"A friend," Kim said breezily. "If it helps, I know Kristen."

"She's okay?" Will asked in relief. "I wondered. She disappeared from my senses a long time ago." He blinked as he put two and two together. "You! It's you! You're the one freeing everyone!"

Kim made an exaggerated bow. "Kim the DreamMaster, at your service," she said with a grin.

"What do I do?" Will asked quickly.

"Well you can start by standing up," Kim said, then held up a hand to still Will's protestations. "You _can_ stand. You fought against Freddy once, you can do it again. I can break down the cage just long enough to give you the chance to dive out, but I can't pull you out myself or I'll end up trapped with you. So I need you to concentrate, take your time, I'm in no rush. But I need you to help me."

Will nodded and closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate, but every time it seemed that he might be able to put up a resistance and stand, he would be lashed by a green lightning strike and lose concentration. Kim scowled as she stared at the cage.

"Try once more," she said suddenly, readying one of her daggers.

"I'll try all night, if that's what it takes," Will panted fiercely. Kim grinned.

As the lightning flickered at the edge of the cage Kim threw the dagger into it, next to Will. As before, the lightning veered, attracted to the metal and struck the dagger instead of Will.

"Score one for the good guys!" Kim crowed as Will finally managed to stand, grinning tiredly, but successfully. "Alright, when I say now, dive out through the space that opens up, alright?" Kim instructed. Will nodded, face tense. "Alright, get ready."

In one swift move, Kim dreamwalked to the other side of the cage, where all the daggers she had thrown before stood scattered about on the ground. "Now!" she screamed, sending two more dagger to either side of her as the lightning bars of the cage lashed out defensively, attracted to all the metal around her. The number of bars lashing out left just enough room for Will to dive out of the cage, and he did so just before the bars snapped back into position. Kim leaped forward, grabbing Will's arm and dreamwalking the two of them away just before the lighting could lash out at them again.

Will began laughing triumphantly as he looked around and found the two of them outside, and leaped at a rather startled Kim.

"Will…can't…breathe…" she managed to choke out.

"Sorry," the kid muttered apologetically. Kim waved it off, rubbing her neck absently as the scenery once again faded to the black landscape she had become used to over the course of her adventures in Springwood.

"Here we part ways," Kim said, slapping Will on the back. "Take care of yourself, ne? And say hi to the others for me."

"Sure thing," Will said. He raised a hand in farewell as he disappeared from sight.

IIIII

"Hey Kim?" Christine asked as she wandered into the kitchen the following morning.

"Mmnn?" Kim mumbled, still half asleep, as she flipped bacon in the pan.

"What's Angie up to? I damn near froze my feet off walking past her door this morning. It's like she's blasting icy air along the floor or something!"

Kim shot her ward a funny look, then sighed. "Knowing Angie, it's far more than likely. Set the table dear, I'll be back in a minute." As Christine obligingly fetched plates and utensils, Kim wandered back upstairs to check on her late-rising friend.

"Geez!" she yelped as icy air blasted across her feet as she stepped near Angie's door. "Hey Angie!" she called, rapping with her knuckles on the door. "What on earth are you doing in there?" She rapped again, and receiving no answer, she opened the door. She sweatdropped animatedly when she saw her friend standing in the center of the foggy room, courtesy of the mist machine in the corner, wearing a white lab coat and an evil grin.

"Hello, Kim," she drawled in imitation of Hannibal Lecter. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm well," Kim drawled in return. "I'm also serving breakfast in five minutes. If you plan on eating your bacon while it's hot I suggest coming downstairs."

"Well?" Christine asked as Kim reentered the kitchen.

"She has a mist machine," Kim responded, shaking her head in disbelief. "I do believe that girl has finally gone off the deep end, she's modeled her room after some kind of mad scientist's laboratory."

"Ah. One of the 'not all there, approach with caution types?'" Christine asked, a grin in her voice.

"Yes, my child. Approach with _extreme_ caution if you value your life. Children taste goooood," Angie hissed as she entered the kitchen.

"Riiigggghhht," Chirstine replied, nervously taking a step behind her guardian.

"I'd appreciate you not terrifying the living daylights out of my charge, thank you," Kim said breezily as she placed the bacon and pancakes on the table.

"So what did you do in dreamworld last night?" Angie asked curiously.

"Rescued Will Stanton," Kim responded with a smug grin as she poured syrup over her pancakes.

"Wizard boy?" Angie asked.

"That'd be him," Kim said with a grin. "I think I'll go after Taryn next. I'm rather itching for a fight."

"You'll be careful won't you?" Christine asked worriedly, turning nervous eyes on her guardian.

"You know me," Kim soothed.

"That's why she's asking," Angie drawled sarcastically, then ducked quickly, laughing, as Kim pitched a pancake at her head.

**Japanese Words**

**Gomen- sorry**

**So please don't kill me over the lateness of this update. Because shit happened, then more shit happened, then shit KEPT happening, and then I checked my page and realized that I hadn't updated in months so I typed this chapter…then my computer committed suicide... Literally.Never mind my documents (which I lost ALL of) but I lost the Word program? How do you lose the Word PROGRAM! So we had to get the computer fixed and we just got it back, not to mention I had to retype the chapter on my laptop and transfer it, rather depressing. Anyway, I WILL update sooner this time, Angie WILL keep getting stranger, I WILL rescue more people in the near future, and that cat WILL be making more random appearances that WILL be explained eventually. **

**Freddy: lots of WILLs in there. New favorite word?**

**Kim: oh shut up.  
Freddy: or are these all promises that you WILL continue to break? (evil smirk. Is pegged by random cement brick thrown by Kim)**

**Angie: (pokes Freddy with a stick) Hey. Are you alive?**

**Erik: was he alive to BEGIN with?**

**Kim: No. So he'll be back to annoy me soon enough… damnit. **

**Angie: YAY! Oh, wait, I'm not hyper anymore. Um, that is very good, very good indeed. Excellent. (does evil Mr. Burns imitation.)**

**Freddy: XX**

**Erik: o.0**

**Kim:-- okkaaaayyy then. I swear she just gets weirder and weirder as time goes on.**

**Angie: you love me anyway. (is glomped by Kim)**

**Kim: and you know it!  
Read and Review! **


	26. Alice in Dreamland

**Konichiwa minna-san! Hey, I assume you all know that thing called Real Life? Yeah, well it gave me a BIG bite on the ass and I've been recuperating in the hospital.  
Freddy: sigh if only…. is pegged by random airborne object  
Kim: anyway, my laptop died (I kid you not, my hard drive wiped my files and just DIED) So it took all summer to see my cousin to fix that because Best Buy wanted my arm, my leg, and a signed promissory note on my firstborn child to fix it. And THEN I moved into college and have since been learning to work around my schedule. So… yeah…I missed you guys?  
Erik: -- gathering dust in the corner**

**Kim: … oh here's the next chapter, go away already!**

**Disclaimer: You DON'T want to bother me right now, you really don't…**

Chapter 26: Alice in Dreamland

_I must be out of my mind_, Kim thought to herself, glancing around. It took all her self-control not to bristle and hiss like Samara, trotting loyally by her feet, was doing with reckless abandon. The back alley streets through which she wandered in Dreamworld were nothing like she had anticipated. They were worse. The ground was covered by a solid layer of filth that couldn't be less than four inches thick, the air was so rank with the odor of smoke, piss, and decay that Kim was forced to breathe through her mouth in an effort to control her gagging. _And there are people who say that dreams aren't real. Those people can bite my ass_, Kim thought sourly, leaping lightly over a puddle of what she fervently hoped was water.

She didn't recall the back alley in which Taryn had made her final stand against Freddy being quite so labyrinthine and finding her way was becoming highly annoying. But just as she was beginning to seriously consider giving up and trying someone else, if only for the fact that she was fast becoming ill, something caught her eye at the end of the alley she was currently navigating. A black cat stood on a crate, swishing it's tail back and forth lazily, staring straight at her with mismatched blue and gold eyes in a half white face.

"Mrow?" Kim blinked and glanced down at the scraggly gray cat twined through her ankles. She glanced back up again, half expecting the black cat to be gone but it was still there, still staring at her expectantly. Cautiously, used to Freddy's tricks, she approached the cat until she was standing in front of the crate it was perched on. He, now that she was so close to it the cat gave off a distinct male aura, blinked once, slowly. He leaped off the crate and darted the rest of the way down the alley and turned to state pointedly at her. After a few seconds in which she stood in stunned shock, Kim followed the cat to the end of the alley. As she came level with him, the cat ran off again, Samara close on his heels. Kim followed the cats, noting that the black one turned every so often to make sure she was keeping up.

_It's official, I have lost my mind._ Kim thought as she ran. _I'd better put up some posters; maybe someone will find it and give it back to me._

The cat began to slow after a while and came to a stop in a narrow backend alley that opened on the far left into yet another alley. But Kim finally recognized where she was. Amazed, she turned to stare at the cat.

"Call me insane for taking directions from a cat, but _damn_ you are one smart animal. If you're even an animal. Are you?" The cat blinked, seeming to grin smugly in the dark. Then without further ado he darted back up the way he had led them, leaving Kim and Samara, who "mrrowwwed" in farewell after him, alone in the alley.

"That was… strange," Kim muttered to Samara, raking her fingers through her ponytail. "Helpful, but incredibly strange."

Shaking her head, Kim turned and walked the rest of the way down the alley and turned the corner, weapons in hand. There were several bums lying around or smoking or leering at the newcomer; they lined the wall down the alley. Keeping her weapons at the ready (and visible) Kim walked down the alley, eyes peeled for Taryn. It didn't take long to find her, moaning on the ground with her arms around her chest. Said arms were covered with enflamed red marks, as if she had numerous infected injection marks, and considering Freddy had killed her by overdosing her on drugs that was most likely the case.

"Samara, keep watch," Kim instructed and her cat obligingly turned to carefully monitor the alley's other occupants. Kim, meanwhile, knelt down in front of Taryn, gently placing a hand on the girl's shoulder and shaking.

"Taryn? Taryn, my name is Kim. I want to help you get out of here. Taryn, can you hear me?"

Taryn raised glazed, unfocused eyes to Kim's face, then she jerked her head around to stare wide-eyed down the street just as Kim heard Samara's warning hiss and turned her head as well. She swore violently as she saw all the bums and druggies she had passed on her way down the alley proceeding towards her and Taryn. Not having time to be gentle Kim hit Taryn hard with one hand, sending a forced burst of energy with the blow. Taryn blinked slowly, clear eyes taking in the situation.

"Can you stand?" Kim asked quickly. She cut Taryn off as the girl started to speak. "Look I'll explain later, but I need help. I can't fight everyone off on my own!"

Shakily, Taryn clambered to her feet, drawing two switchblades from her belt as she tried to assess the situation. As the first few men reached them Kim ducked the initial blows and took down the first guy while Taryn, the more experienced streetfighter, dealt with the next two. But as the next few stepped up, one grinned and pulled out a syringe. Taryn let out a bloodcurdling scream when she saw it and fell back against the wall, arms over her head, yelling for all she was worth. Syringe-man went down under Kim's quick strike, but Taryn refused to rejoin the fight, crying with her arms over her head.

"So I guess I can expect no help from you?" Kim called over to Taryn, trying desperately to rouse the girl to no avail. Grimacing, she plunged back into the fight with new vigor, now having to fight for both her and Taryn. Samara was doing her best to protect her mistress, leaping and biting and scratching and trying to draw as much attention as she could away from Kim. It worked to a point, but it still left too many men for Kim to deal with all at once while also trying to protect Taryn. And Dreamworld given experience was no measure to real world fighting experience.

Kim hissed in pain and surprise as one fighter scoured a bloody line down her arm with a broken bottle. She retaliated by slicing open his neck the next chance she got, but another simply took his place. After only a few minutes Kim was cut, bruised, and tiring fast. After another few minutes she stepped back to evade a blow and her foot slid out from under her. She tried to catch herself but several of her attackers took advantage of her moment of distraction and the next thing Kim knew she was flat on her back with her vision blurring. She registered the descending knife in time to close her eyes, but not in time to block it. But her ears registered the sound of the knife skittering away and someone was hauling her to her feet.

"It's not nice to pick on girls you know," someone said from in front of her. Kim opened her eyes in time to see someone karate chop one of her attackers on the neck just as another went down under a punch from whoever it was that had picked her up. Kim dove back into the fight with renewed vigor, witnessing from the corner of her eye with a grin as Samara mauled the face of someone to her right in her hissing, spitting, furry fury. With the new additions the street thugs that had been giving Kim and the distraught Taryn such a hard time were easily taken down, their corpses vanishing almost before they hit the floor so that the fighting ground was clear when the remaining combatants turned to face each other.

"You okay?" the guy who picked her up asked.

Kim started to nod, then took a better look at him and at the boy in martial arts getup beside him. She swore in surprise as she recognized Dan and Rick.

"How did you two get here?" she shrilled in confusion. She hadn't rescued either one of them yet and thus far none of Freddy's other victims had been able to break themselves out of their Dreamland prisons. How had they-? But the two boys were grinning and Rick raised a hand of greeting, staring at a point just over Kim's shoulder. Turning, wondering just how many more surprises she could take in one night, Kim saw a woman with reddish brown hair standing just to the side of Taryn.

"Alice," Kim breathed in recognition. The Dream Master smiled quietly.

"So you're Kim, I take it?" she asked, holding out a hand. Kim took it, nodding, still confused.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left Springwood years ago."

"I did," Alice agreed. "Me, my father, and Jacob. I didn't want my son growing up in that town, not after what happened."

"So why are you here now?" Kim asked, still confused.

"Kristen contacted me," Alice explained, a sad smile on her face. "She told me what was going on, how Freddy still held all the souls of his victims trapped, how you were going around trying to free everyone, how you're protecting that girl."

"She asked you to help me," Kim guessed. Alice nodded.

"I couldn't say no. Many of those still here in this hell were my friends." She looked over Kim's shoulder at Dan and Rick, who were messing around in the street, wrestling and trying to put each other in headlocks, laughing all the while. Alice sighed. "My boyfriend, my brother. They were still here and I never knew."

"No one knew," Kim agreed quietly. "No one knew until I stumbled across Spencer all those months ago." She still remembered that like it was yesterday, struggling inside a video game to free the soul of the boy trapped inside. Her declaration after she succeeded to free all the souls Freddy still held captive. The war they had begun.

Alice turned her attention fully back to Kim. "I left because I knew it would happen again sooner or later. I got Jacob out of town early so he wouldn't grow up a Springwood child, wouldn't grow up vulnerable. I stopped letting myself think about it, I let go of my dreams, tried to be normal. And I succeeded for a while. Until Kristen showed up and explained what I had left behind." Alice's eyes glimmered with apology. "I didn't know I was leaving my fight for someone else to struggle with."

Kim gave her fellow Dream Master a wry grin. "You won your fight. You did what you thought you had to and no one can blame you for that. I certainly don't. I can't even say that I would have done differently because I'm not sure I would have. I certainly took Christine and hightailed it out of Springwood as fast as I could go."

"But you're still here, still fighting," Alice argued. Kim shrugged in response.

"So? You came back didn't you? That has to count for something."

Taryn groaned at that point, effectively ending the discussion. Kim sighed.

"I am really out of my depth with this one," she complained, running frustrated fingers through her hair. But before Alice could say anything Rick walked over and scooped Taryn up like a doll.

"All we have to do is leave this dream plane right? Then her spirit will be free?"

"Theoretically," Kim agreed. "I'm not completely sure how it works."

"Let's just get her out of here," Alice agreed. "The sooner the better."

Kim looked around warily at that point, as if she was expecting something to jump out at them. She waved a hand at the inquisitive looks the others shot her. "Just surprised Freddy hasn't shown up yet. He usually pops out of nowhere after I free someone."

"She's not free yet," Dan pointed out, then turned and began leading the way out of the alley.

III

Angie, meanwhile, was on Elmstreet humming some nameless tune as she walked once more to Freddy's house. She had been with Kim and Christine for just over two weeks and was starting to get restless, eager to be back in Springwood again. She'd leave in the morning, but for now she'd have to settle for Dreamworld.

So the Dreamworld Elmstreet that night saw Angie wearing a lab coat and skipping past the jump roping girls, making a mental note to bring spiked objects next time that she could throw at them, before walking brazenly into 1428, and then stopping dead in her tracks, her jaw dropping. The living room as she remembered it (from just a few nights ago, mind you) was gone. Or more accurately, changed beyond all recall. It now resembled the decrepit waiting room of a doctor's office, the stuffing torn out of the plush chairs, cold metal ones lining the walls, horror magazines scattered over the coffee tables, mildew growing liberally over the cracked tiles.

_Okaaayyy, someone wanna tell me WTF!_ Angie thought fuzzily as she forced her legs to move and carry her through the room into the hall. That also resembled something out of a hospital from hell, tiles falling out, paint peeling and the general look of not being cleaned in well over a decade. The rest of the first floor was much the same, different kinds of rotten doctor's offices in various states of decay. There was everything from a dentist's office to a fully decked surgery room.

With quite a bit of trepidation Angie ascended the stairs to the second level. Here, finally, there was little to no resemblance to anything medical. It looked almost like the normal upstairs to Freddy's house. Well, if one could ever have called it normal to begin with anyway. The only real difference was the pictures on the walls; they now contained several portraits of screaming victims strapped down in the rooms she had seen downstairs.

_Well, he IS rather morbid_, Angie reasoned. _Kinda why I love him in the first place_. She looked through the rooms on this level; the bathroom hadn't changed (thankfully, she did NOT want to have to scrub mold and mildew from the shower thank you very much) the storage rooms now housed medical crates and boxes that bore the radiation and poison symbols on the sides. Angie chuckled when she saw those. The bedroom now contained a dilapidated hospital bed, though a king size one. Angie snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. How Freddy had found out about her new fetish already was beyond her, but he had certainly done a killer job, if not gone overboard, at fixing things up based around it.

_Well this is above and beyond the call of duty where a boyfriend is concerned. Then again, when said boyfriend has dream powers, anything is possible_. With a malicious chuckle Angie turned and trotted off to _find_ said boyfriend with dream powers. He was in the house somewhere, she knew that, but she didn't know _where_, which was the problem. She carefully combed the top floor first, seeing as she was up there already, then went back downstairs and began carefully searching each room there, from the waiting room in the front to each and every doctor's room scattered throughout the rest of the level, to the kitchen (where the fridge, along with normal food, now contained several questionable containers with unknown contents that Angie rather figured were best kept unknown and a pitcher of what looked suspiciously like blood).

_What is this, a game of hide and seek_? Angie seethed a while later as no trace of the Dream Demon was revealed anywhere in the house. _I hate games, where is that bastard_? She grumbled, wondering if she should start looking through drawers and cabinets. Then a thought clicked into place and she banished the cabinet idea. She hadn't looked through the basement yet. The basement was what connected the house to the power plant but Angie had a funny feeling that Freddy was currently touching the basement up to match the rest of the house, considering he could dreamwalk the two of them to the power plant whenever he wanted. That, and the fact that there was no real need for him to return to the power plant anymore, not unless some random child forgot to take their nightly hypnocil, a scenario about as likely as Kim abandoning her quest to free all of Freddy's captured souls.

She opened the door and walked down into the basement, fumbling for the light switch, finding it, and then finding out it wouldn't work. She tried to use her limited dream powers to force it to work, but to no avail, the light remained stubbornly either off or broken. After glaring at it in vain for a few moments, Angie continued down the stairs until she felt her feet hit cement instead of wood. But before she could move away from the stairs a hand clamped over her mouth and another wrapped tightly around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides. Without thinking Angie bit the offending hand, which released her immediately and she leapt away while something cursed behind her. She whipped around to face her attacker, eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness, while knowing instinctively who it was.

"Goddamn it Freddy, you trying to give me a fing heart attack!" Angie raged at the Dream Demon who was currently nursing his bitten left hand. She couldn't tell in the darkness whether he was grinning or scowling at her, but then she heard him chuckle.

"Maybe," he spoke quietly, but Angie could hear the sadistic grin in his voice. "But it was certainly fun to watch you jump into the air like a terrified rabbit."

Anige felt around behind her for some random basement junk, which she morphed into something random and heavy and threw it at Freddy's head. She heard him grunt when it connected and mutter something incoherent under his breath.

"Would you mind turning the lights on?" Angie snapped, getting rather sick of standing around in the darkness. Smirking, Freddy complied.

"As you wish."

Angie blinked several times as her eyes adjusted to the dim glow of the lights overhead, then nearly whistled in surprise. The basement had been converted into some kind of dungeon complete with prison cells and torture implements. About a thousand different scenarios raced through Angie's head at that moment and her face mirrored Freddy's sadistic grin.

"I take it you approve," drawled the Dream Demon behind her.

"Where'd you come up with all this?" Angie queried curiously as she began to wander around.

"You," Freddy responded. At her confused glare Freddy elaborated, holding up a book for her to see. "You left this here," he said, waving the book in her face. Angie recognized it as one of the serial murderer books she'd bought recently. "You dog-eared the stories about the cannibal and mad doctor. I thought we could have a little fun with some dream creations while you were here."

Freddy let out his breath in a startled 'oof' as Angie tackled him flat.

"Anyone ever tell you you're the absolute best?" she asked, face an inch from his.

"No, maybe you should," Freddy suggested as he tried and failed to sit up. Smirking at his plight, Angie refused to move, grinning sadistically as she remained seated on his chest.

"So does this place look like this in the real world now or is it limited to Dream World?"

Freddy smirked. "I guess you'll just have to come back and find out," he purred, looking very much like a cat that had figured out how to use a can opener.

_Yeah he ain't telling_, Angie groused to herself silently._ But it might be fun to try and make him anyway_.

Needless to say neither of them explored the basement for quite a while. But they did get around to it eventually, Angie gleefully imagining all the fun she could have with some random dreamworld created victims and, oh say, the drill? Then there was always the scalpel or the good old fashioned razor. Oh the possibilities….

Yeah, it was definitely time to head home.

III

The opening music to her Wicked cd roused Kim out of sleep at 9:00 the following morning. Groaning, she slammed her hand on the 'off' button and shoved her pillow over her head.

_I really need to put a new cd in there. The opening music to _No one Mourns the Wicked_ is no way to wake up in the morning_. Stubbornly refusing to admit that she had to get out of bed yet, Kim stayed where she was, debating whether or not she should simply fall back to sleep again. Last night had been no cakewalk, even after the fight in the alley was over. Taryn, one of the strongest of Freddy's victims, had completely fallen apart during her after death captivity. Though considering half the girl's problem had been forced drug overdose several times a 'day' since her imprisonment Kim really didn't see how it could be possible to blame the girl for completely losing it. That didn't mean that she had to _enjoy_ the time it took to renavigate her way out of the alley labyrinth, this time without the help of that strange black cat, helping carry Taryn most of the way, keeping on guard for any other street bums that had taken to popping out of nowhere every couple of minutes, and then finally stepping out once again onto Elmstreet and trying to _revive_ Taryn. The street fighter had pretty much locked herself in her own mind, believing Kim, Alice, Dan, and Rick to be tricks either that her drug-hazed mind had produced or illusions that Freddy was creating to torture her. It took well over an hour to convince the girl that they were real before she would finally stop fighting Kim's efforts to clear her system of the drugs she had been forced to take. _That_ had taken quite a bit more time to accomplish, simply from the sheer _amount_ that Taryn had running through her system. And then after Taryn's spirit was finally able to accept that she wasn't trapped anymore and go free Kim had to talk with Alice.

Alice had agreed to help in the rescue of the lost souls still under Freddy's lock and key and now it was a matter of dividing up who was going after who. They had agreed to meet the following night so they could come up with a list, considering both were wiped out from the night's exertions at the time. So needless to say, Kim wasn't exactly feeling all that rested. Nevertheless, Samara leaped up on to the bed not two minutes later and began ruthlessly kneading her paws on Kim's back, letting her mistress know that she had spent quite enough time abed and that Samara wanted her breakfast _now_.

Groaning, Kim finally removed the pillow and staggered to her feet, the triumphant Samara sauntering out of the room as Kim began to make the bed and throw on a random tee shirt and jeans. She ducked into the bathroom to bandage up her arm where the knife had cut her the night before and to apply some medication to a few of the worst bruises. Finally looking at least semi presentable, Kim made her way down to the kitchen, fed the cats, and began making some breakfast for herself, Angie, and Christine. Christine herself wandered into the kitchen a few moments later, yawning, and proceeded to set the table. Kim noticed that she had taken to wearing socks, apparently Angie's mist machine was icing up the entire top floor.

_I'm gonna have to talk to her about that_, Kim thought to herself. Hurried footsteps on the stairs signaled the arrival of the girl in question. Kim looked up as Angie rushed into the kitchen like a whirlwind on caffeine, grabbed a poptart, chugged some apple juice and raced from the kitchen again. They heard her footsteps retreat upstairs, run around, and them come racing down again. She popped her head into the kitchen, bookbag on her back and wallet in hand.

"Morningheadingback,callyoulater,dropbyagainsoon,bye!" she said in a rush, words practically on top of one another so that it was all but impossible to understand what she had said and then she disappeared, the front door slammed, and they heard a car rev itself to life not seconds later and drive away.

Kim and Christine stood still for several minutes, minds trying to catch up to what their eyes had just seen.

"That was…" Christine was the first to break the silence. Kim looked down as two cold noses pressed against her hand and smirked.

"She'll be back soon, she was in such a rush she forgot Melchaiah."

**So I've finally updated. Waits for barrage of rotten food I'll go start working on the next chapter now…  
Freddy: evil chuckle And I'll go bother Erik.**

**Erik: do and die waves lasso threateningly**

**Angie: He didn't mean you, he meant Kim's new boyfriend. **

**Kim: humming happily**

**Freddy: I'm gonna go scare him senseless, he apparently hates anything and everything to do with horror.**

**Kim: throws a cement brick at Freddy**

**Freddy: has been around Kim a long time, avoids brick**

**Erik2: walks in, is pegged by brick XX  
Kim: O.O  
Freddy: laughing hysterically  
Angie: …ummm  
Erik: -- why do I put up with you all?  
Kim: So, uh, read, review, you all know the drill by now. Uh, I didn't kill him? Did I? Oops?….**


	27. In Which Nothing Really Happens

……………………………

**Angie: (glare)  
Freddy: (glare)**

**Me: -.- …. I have no excuse, here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 27: In Which Nothing Really Happens But the Plot Progresses Anyway

"Those bills aren't going to go away if you ignore them, you know," Christine informed her guardian dryly as Kim added two more credit card statements to the slowly growing stack.

"Urusai1," Kim grumbled as she poured milk over her cereal. "I have a few more days before they have to be in the mail, I'll get around to it."  
"_Before_ Christmas?" Christine asked sweetly, neatly ducking Kim's swatting hand and ignoring her annoyed muttering.

"Kindly shut up. Don't you have to leave for school anyway?"  
Christine raised an eyebrow. "Would you really be awake if it was that early? It's Saturday, remember?"

Kim glanced at the calendar, realizing that it was indeed Saturday, and then remembering that the three cats all had grooming appointments in half an hour. Swearing, she inhaled her cereal while Christine laughed and went to go hunt down the three fuzzy terrors (who all had to be mind readers or how else would they know she needed to find them and promptly go hide?) get them in their respective carry cases and into the car so she could actually get to the grooming saloon on time this time.

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Angie sighed as she felt herself wake up, stretching luxuriously to work the kinks out of her muscles before curling back up into a ball again, snuggling the warm presence next to her. Which laughed. Annoyingly. And wouldn't stop. She glared through closed eyelids. She was trying to enjoy a few more minutes of almost-sleep, didn't that stupid voice know that it needed to shut up? Now? Apparently not, because the quiet chuckling hadn't stopped. Angie debated in her sleep heavy mind if she wanted to exert the effort to silence the voice herself, then decided that if she ignored it, like most things, it would give up and go away. But apparently her sleep-fogged mind had forgotten who the voice belonged to, and that the owner did _not_ give up and go away. Which was why she found herself flipped onto her back with two warm hands pressing insistently into her shoulders when she refused to acknowledge the fact that she was annoyed.

Now _really_ irked, Angie opened her eyes. And screamed. And shoved hard at the figure above her, actually breaking his hold on her and slamming her hands into his face. Raziel toppled backwards with a pained yelp, helped right over the edge of the bed by Angie's well-aimed kick from under the covers. He lay groaning on the floor where he'd fallen, holding his face. Angie, meanwhile, had sat up, and was holding her chest and trying to even out her breathing while glaring Laser Beams of Death and Destruction at the space where Raziel had been before she sent him flying while she waited for her voice to return.

"Are you TRYING to give me a fucking HEART ATTACK?!" she shouted when her voice had returned from its temporary vacation and making it rather strongly wish it could take another. "Because you're a good way to succeeding! Don't DO that!"

Raziel, who's head had stopped spinning quite as much, slowly worked his way to his knees, leaning his chin on the bed, arms extended straight, a slightly milder glare of his own leveled at the short haired girl still on the bed. His now red hair fell around his head in a typical bed head fashion.

"What? I thought you'd like the change," he grumbled. Angie leaned over to smack him.

"NOT when you surprise me with it before I'm even awake! I didn't even know it was you! Normal people do NOT go to bed with hair one color and wake up with it a completely different one!"

"And since _when_ have I _ever_ been normal?" Raziel asked, raising one eyebrow in mild inquiry.

Angie opened her mouth to snap something about his childhood or marriage, then thought about it for a second and shut her mouth again. Refusing to let him win the argument, however, she jerked the covers down so that they fell over his kneeling form and he became tangled and fell back to the floor as he tried to stand. His muffled curses followed her smirking form to the bathroom as she went to take her morning shower. She was reveling in the feel of the hot water, letting it soak her through, when Raziel stepped into the shower behind her, still grumbling angrily. Angie continued to smirk, not about to admit that she thought he looked even hotter with crimson hair than he had with black.

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"Your cooperation would be much appreciated right now, Samara," Kim grumbled as she held down her squalling cat so the aggravated groomer could clip her claws. "You'd think we were torturing you, the way you're caterwauling."

The glare Kim received from her cat let her know in know uncertain terms that as far as she was concerned, they _were_ torturing her. Kim sighed. It figured that _her_ cat had to be the one that caused problems; Diva and Aria loved every second of the primping and pampering. Samara, however, Kim actually had to stay to aid the poor, overworked groomers with. She hated water, yowled and clawed all during the bath and drying, tried to climb the cages to escape the air from the dryer, didn't like going in the cage, refused to come out of the cage, and didn't stay still for the trimming and clipping part of the process either. Kim suspected that the groomers drew straws to see who got to deal with her little terror when they came in. Even Hellboy was easier to deal with; he was getting larger all the time but he was friendly and relatively well behaved. She'd even brought Godzilla in for a nail clipping once, and the iguana hadn't moved. Sure, she'd gotten weird looks but at least the lizard had _behaved_.

When Samara's grooming was finished (to sighs of relief from everyone present) she leaped right into her carry case and curled up in the farthest corner, glaring angrily out the front of it. Diva and Aria walked into theirs more sedately with last pats of affection from the groomers, who Kim paid happily (and tipped heavily) and left after making another appointment for Hellboy and Melchaiah, making a mental note to call Angie and tell her she owed her for said appointment. Melchaiah tended to cause slightly more problems than his tongue-happy counterpart.

In the car on the way home, when she wasn't paying attention to the road, Kim had a glaring match with Samara, who she knew would go sulk in a corner when they got home and then forgive her as soon she fed the furries that night. And sure enough as soon as she got in the door and opened the carry cases Samara slinked off. Kim rolled her eyes, stepping over to one of the cabinets and patting her shoulders. Godzilla strolled lazily off the cabinet and onto her shoulders. Her cat really needed to learn to be more grateful. At least she didn't look like a walking dishrag anymore.

"Tadaima!"2 Kim shouted up the stairs where the faint sounds of Christine singing stilled for just long enough for her shout a welcome back down. Kim then wandered into the kitchen to begin preparing something for dinner, settling for spaghetti and marinara sauce. She dug through the fridge for a head of lettuce and a tomato and tossed a quick salad, got the pasta boiling and the sauce in a little pan, adding some spices to doctor it up. The smells that wafted through the house eventually dragged Christine downstairs and she set the table, moving the mail to the side.

"You didn't finish sorting today's," she commented, setting that mail in a different pile from the mess of bills Kim had yet to look through.

"I'll check it when we sit down," Kim returned, shutting off the flame under the sauce and giving it another quick stir. "Come fix yourself a plate and get a drink," Kim said, doing likewise for herself. As they ate, Godzilla sneaked off Kim's shoulder and onto the table, stealing some of Christine's salad before the girl even realized the iguana was there. She screeched in annoyance, shooing the lizard away who obligingly wandered back to his owner who fed him a few pieces of lettuce absentmindedly as she sorted through the remaining mail. Junk, junk, another bill, junk, hello what was this? Pushing her empty plate aside (where Samara, who had been lying in wait, happily leaped onto the table to lick) Kim used her butter knife (after wiping it relatively clean) to slit the envelope open. As she read, her lips pressed together in an angry line, and a growl had escaped her throat before she could stop it, attracting Christine's attention.

"What's it about?" Christine asked her guardian, puzzled.

"You," Kim responded, eyes narrowed. "Those assholes from Springwood are making a bid to get you back. They dragged out a bunch of falsified records that claim you were supposed to be left to a friend of your foster father's when the good-for-nothing jerk bit the bullet.

Fear flickered through Christine's eyes. "I won't have to go back, will I?"

Kim snorted. "Not if I have anything to say about it. But we'd stand a better chance if we could prove these documents are fake and I don't know how to do that." Then her eyes lit up in pure mischief. "But I know three guys who do. Help me clear the table, I have to go e-mail some old friends."

"Who are they?" Christine asked curiously.

"Conspiracy freaks who'll be only too happy to help if they're not too busy with their own conspiracy theories. They'll love this one, trust me. Might even make front page. Say, if I work on my book tonight that'll free me up tomorrow, so what say we go to the stables and rent some horses for the day?" Christine grinned, pulling Kim's plate away from a persistent Samara and helped load and start the dishwasher before going down to the den to watch a movie.

Kim, meanwhile, went into her cluttered little study and booted up her computer. Once it was running she opened an email and began typing, grinning as she did so.

"Bet they'll be surprised to hear from me, it's been quite a while. And it just figures I'm asking for help, doesn't it?" she mused, typing out the problems she now faced and a brief overview of what had happened to bring it about. She left out the part about fighting a war with Freddy Krueger, she suspected even these three would have trouble believing that. When she was finished she sent it to their work email, and as a precaution to each of their private email addresses.

"I hope none of those Springwood freaks thought to tap my computer," she fretted, then whacked her head on her desk. "Baka!3 I'm becoming as paranoid as _they_ are!"

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Raziel grimaced as he ran a hand through his now crimson locks. He had just discovered the night previous that Alice had joined Kim in her quest to free all his trapped souls. Normally this wouldn't be so worrisome, Alice had enough old fears regarding him that, while she was able to put up one _hell_ of a fight, was not invulnerable like Kim. Unfortunately the steady trickle of trapped souls out of Dreamworld had weakened him to the point that he was virtually unable to do anything about the Dream Master himself, having to rely on tricks and traps that she was far too wary to actually fall for.

The sounds of Angie's maniacal laughter drifted up from the basement and Raziel's lips quirked into an involuntary grin. For the sake of snooping neighbors the house in the real world still looked normal. On the two upper floors. The basement, however, Raziel changed around whenever the mood struck him, then let Angie loose to wreck havoc. Right now she was probably armed with a machine gun and blowing holes through a bunch of targets that looked like terrified blonde bimbos and screaming "Die, bitch, die!!!" if he was hearing right.

She was still glaring at him and grumbling about the trick he'd pulled the other morning with changing his hair color while she slept, but if the sheer number of times she'd run her hands through it was any indication, or the fact that her sketch pad was filled with new works of him with his hair bright red, she loved it. Not that he'd ever catch her saying that out loud of course, she had an annoyed front to keep up.

A moment later the girl in question came stomping up the stairs for lunch, snickering with an evil grin splashed across her face. Apparently she didn't notice the streak of blood that stretched from one mouth corner across her cheek, so Raziel walked over to her and licked it off.

"How long are you going to pretend to be mad at me?" he whispered into her ear. She struggled against his grip for a few seconds, then gave up.

"Until you promise to never pull shit like that again," she snapped, but with no real anger behind the tone. Raziel grinned.

"Ah, but love, then where would all the fun be?" Whatever thoughts had been skittering around like bugs in his brain all scattered then, and didn't return until much _much_ later.

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_For the love of God, someone shoot me now_, Kim thought to herself as she stared at the mess of papers in front of her. Good lord, this was going to take _hours_ to go through. Then again, it was technically her fault since she had ignored their existence until the last minute as usual, but that didn't change the fact that paying bills was a class A bitch. She ignored Christine as the girl skipped into the kitchen, humming, to fix herself a snack before scurrying off to her room to practice scales and whatnot, her little written homework long since done. And Kim sat at the kitchen table glaring at the bills and bank statements arranged there as if she glared for long enough they would get tired of her inactivity and start taking care of themselves. No such luck. Knowing she was digging herself in even deeper Kim reached for the far corner of the little table and scooped up the list she and Alice had come up with.

_A few more minutes won't matter_, Kim tried to reason, knowing that when she finally started rifling through the damn things at midnight she would deeply regret it when she was still awake at three in the morning. But for now her eyes scanned over the list again, basically a more refined version of victim list she had started with all those months ago when she and Angie had first stumbled into Freddy's Dreamworld. The first page of this one consisted of the list of victims Kim had already saved, in order, and giving details about how they had been trapped and confined in the hopes that it would give clues as to those remaining. So far neither Kim nor Alice had had much luck with that angle. The next pages were lists and details of those who were still stuck with input added by Alice that she thought might help. Again, no luck so far. It had also been over a week since Angie had returned to Springwood and other than a call that day to let Kim know she had returned home safe and sound ("I _can_ drive you know, you overprotective, worrying, annoying pain in the ass of a best friend.") there had been no word from her.

"Well she's about due for an angry phone call," Kim grumbled to herself as she tossed the list onto the counter where she couldn't reach it unless she got out of her chair and resigned herself to dealing with all the bills and taxes and junk. Forty-five minutes into it she had made a little headway but was beginning to pull her hair from her head from frustration and extreme boredom. "I want to work on my _book_," she whined, reaching for the next credit card statement, the one dealing with the amount of anime and anime paraphernalia she had purchased from e-bay this month which she knew she should stop doing in the bulk she was doing but also knew she wouldn't stop doing so she needed to stop complaining to herself about it in her head in long run-on sentences as it did no good and changed nothing, when the doorbell rang. Sighing in relief at the distraction Kim happily leaped away from the table and into the living room, calling "coming!" in a bouncy, singsong tone as she searched for the correct key on the hook (she needed to organize those, too, one of these days) and unlocking the door. Her face fell from relieved happy to stunned stupid, however, when she saw the visitors waiting patiently on the stoop. Then she grinned.

"I guess you guys weren't quite as busy as I thought."

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**1 shut up**

**2 roughly translates to 'I'm home'**

**3 stupid or idiot**

**So yay, I updated again. And I know it's not fair to leave you all on a cliffhanger so expect the next chapter within the next two weeks. And if I fail to comply, feel free to come shoot me and NEVER find out what happens.**

**Erik: I think they all hate you by now.**

**Freddy: I wonder how many I can recruit to my side?**

**Me: oh shut up. And speaking of which, about the three guys I mention in this chapter that you obviously get to meet next chapter, if anyone can guess who they are you get to make a brief appearance in a future chapter. **

**Freddy: oh, _great_.**

**Erik: (hits him)**

**Me: Thank you. Now, I won't promise how, so don't come after me with a scythe if you end up playing a dead body or something, but you can make an appearance. And since I gave almost no clues as to their identities in the chapter, here's a few now:**

**1. They're conspiracy theory journalists.**

**2. There's three of them.**

**3. If you are an avid X-files freak like myself you should know who they are, if you aren't or you are and you really just don't know (SHAME! Shame on you!) then feel free to research it on the internet.**

**Angie: (glaring Death and Destruction at Kim's back) You're letting a _fangirl_ into the story?!  
Kim: (evil grin, whispers in Angie's ear)  
Angie: oh (looks happier) **

**Kim: so, read, review, take your guesses and I'll see you all again soon! Till then, ja ne! **


	28. PreStorm Calm

**You know, I actually had this chapter completed for about a month now and just realized the other day that I forgot to post it? Eh-heh... oopsie? I very sorry...**

**I have news! I be lifeguard now! I so happy! Yay!!!!**

**Freddy: …And we care because…?**

**Kim: (Throws brick at him) Because now I am certified to save people, or to just let them drown. Heh heh heh heh heh.**

**Angie: -- Remind me not to go swimming when you're on duty…  
Kim: Hey! Just so long as you're not a pro-wrestler, you're fine! Muscle sinks --, we had one guy in my class no one could get out of the water. Poor sap.**

**Erik: And as interesting as this is, it's relevant, how?**

**Kim: It's not, I just felt like sharing.**

**Angie: (facepalm) Just get on with the damn story!**

**Kim: oh fine, party pooper.**

**Disclaimer: Must I? Cuz no one would watch a Nightmare on Elmstreet movie if I owned the franchise. **

**Angie: (cackles maniacally) **

**Chapter 28: Pre-Storm Calm**

"You know, the last time we heard from you, you were living in an apartment in the city with that friend of yours."

Kim grinned as she filled three water glasses for her friends. "Things change. And Angie lives here, when she wants to anyway." Melchaiah chose that particular moment to come barreling into the kitchen, barking his head off. "Sit!" Kim commanded sharply, pointing at the floor. The Doberman sat down mid-run, sliding the last few feet to a stop at Kim's feet, still glaring suspiciously at the newcomers. "She has to come back soon and get her dog anyway, though I have a funny feeling I'm gonna end up stuck with him more often than not." She grinned, ruffling Melchaiah's short head fur.

Langley rolled his eyes, brushing a strand of blond hair out of his face.

Frohike eyed the still glaring dog dubiously. "He won't attack, will he?"

Kim shook her head. "No. He'll watch you guys for a while, but once he sees that I trust you he'll be as friendly as anything. Though you might just wish that he hated you, he has an annoying habit of getting and _staying_ underfoot."

Diva chose that precise moment to slink under the table and rub her white, fluffy self against Langley's jeans, causing the man in question to jump. "Speaking of underfoot," he muttered. "I forgot you had such a penchant for animals."

"Eh-heh," Kim giggled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head as she passed around the water.

"Care to give us the heads-up before we trip down the stairs?" Frohike deadpanned, folding his arms across his chest, though not quite managing to hide the quirk to his lips.

"Three cats, two dogs, and an iguana," Kim recited in quick succession, smiling once again in response to the chuckles the list prompted.

"And still no sense of priorities," Byer's commented dryly, flicking idly through the half-finished pile of bills. Kim stuck her tongue out at him. He adjusted his tie and pretended not to notice.

"So," Langley began, ignoring the childish display. "How can we and our peerless skills be of assistance to you?"

Kim sighed, pushing the Springwood letter across the table for the blonde to read. His blue eyes scanned it quickly from behind his glasses, before passing it across the table to Byers. Frohike had stood in the meantime and was cautiously patting Melchaiah on the head with a fingerless-glove clad hand.

"From what I understand of Springwood, they don't like letting their children leave the town. They're a very close-knit society. How'd you manage to get the girl in the first place?" Byers asked curiously.

"Blackmail," Kim replied without hesitation. Langley chuckled at the answer, but stopped when she arched a brow and said, "What? I wasn't kidding."

"So, you blackmailed Springwood?" he asked, an almost eager curiosity on his face. "How'd you manage that and why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I didn't want you guys dragged into the middle of this if you didn't have to be. It's… complicated," Kim admitted, scratching Samara behind the ears as her cat leapt into her lap. "But I went through hell and high water to get Chris out of there, and I have no intentions of letting them steal her back through some stupid little made-up technicality like this. You think you can help me out with this? Prove this information is fake?"

"Cakewalk," Langley announced, rubbing his hands together. "We're not the Lone Gunmen for nothing. Give me a few hours tonight and I can do it. You hacked into their police system database yet?"

Kim smirked. "I can _give_ you all the information they had from back when I was there. It's dated and everything. Oh, and I have another favor to ask, while we're at it. If I give you some of the information I was holding over them would you mind running an article on it? I want them to know that I don't make idle threats."

"We've been trying to get a story on Springwood for _years_," Byers responded, standing and straightening his suit jacket. "You'd be doing _us_ a favor by giving us any information you have."

Kim grinned wickedly as she led them down the hall to her study. "I was hoping you would say something like that. Oh, and Byers?"

He looked up, fingers pausing in fruitlessly brushing long, white cat hair off his usually impeccably neat dark suit.

"I own five animals, four of which have fur and spend every spare second they have producing hair to shed all over the house."

"And?" he asked, unconsciously brushing at his jacket again.

Kim smirked. "You, my friend, are fighting a losing battle."

11111

Freddy stalked into his living room, scowling, only to find his girlfriend in an equally bad temper, splayed across the couch massaging her wrists.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" he muttered, watching the rather mesmerizing motion of her hands twirling through the air in an effort to loosen up aching muscles.

"I'm behind on commissions," Angie snapped. "I was drawing all damn day, and when I got fed up with that I had to color a bunch of the damned things in. Some are digital, some are markered, some are a mix of a bunch of shit. I'm so frikken behind I have to do some of the work _here_ while I'm _asleep_ or I'll be busy until the end of the damn century!" she ranted.

Freddy raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you should take a break?" he hazarded. Angie fixed him with a Blazing Glare of Doom.

"What, exactly, does it look like I'm trying to do?" she asked in an icy tone.

"Looks like you're trying to rub the skin off your wrists is what it looks like," Freddy muttered, moving to sit beside her. Angie sat up.

"Give me a massage, will you?"

Rolling his eyes, the Dream Demon complied with her demand. It had been a while since Angie had gotten this backed up with her work. She was a pretty popular artist, the manga she had drawn earlier in the year had been an almost instant hit in the art community. People raved about her style, and as a consequence commissions had started coming in almost immediately with offers for almost obscene amounts of money. She hadn't complained at first, the commissions were paying well and if they kept up like this she wouldn't have to look for another job for a while, which made a nice change from working behind registers. Dealing with people _sucked_. But the more popular she became, the faster the commissions came in, so in almost hysteric desperation she had declared herself too busy to take new ones for a while, but that hadn't made the already humungous pile stacked on her desk any shorter. As a result, she'd been driving herself more crazy than she had during her sleep-deprived college days. And by now, Freddy knew better than to bother her when she was so busy she took her work into Dreamworld with her. Angie was _damn scary_ when she was stressed, the chainsaw she kept next to her desk notwithstanding. She didn't even _need_ the damn thing.

"I'm not doing _any_ work tonight!" Angie declared. "None! And I'm not taking any new commissions for a month! I've had quite enough of this shit! People don't seem to understand that I have a frikken life, and that it does _not_ revolve around doing artwork for everyone else in the world!"

Freddy turned a deaf ear, letting her rant. She'd continue in that vein for a while until she ran out of steam or developed a sore throat. In the meantime he continued to ponder the other female problems he had; namely the Kim and Alice problems. He'd set traps for both of them, and though he'd nearly netted the two of them together just a few nights previously, the blonde bitch Kristen had managed to warn them in time for them to avoid it and it to go off without snaring anything. He was struggling to keep one step ahead of them, but it had been hard enough keeping tabs on one, and there was no discernable pattern that they seemed to use. The victims they went after were random, with the only exception being that the first two Alice had rescued had been her boyfriend and her brother. Since then, they seemed just as determined to be unpredictable as he was to predict their movements. One helpful thing was that neither had actually been to Elmstreet since two nights ago when they'd narrowly avoided that last trap, giving him a little breathing room.

It was with a rather sharp jolt, namely Angie's elbow to his ribs, which alerted Freddy to the fact that his girlfriend had finished ranting. Quite a few minutes ago too, if the glare she was leveling over her shoulder was anything to go by. He swatted her shoulder with his bladed hand in retaliation, ignoring the fact that the blades would do no damage and stood. Then blinked in shock as Angie stretched, and four tiny streams of blood ran down her arm from four newly formed scratches, no more deep than paper cuts.

"W-what? How? The _fuck_?!" Freddy stuttered. Angie craned her head over her shoulder, trying to see the reason for her boyfriend's unusual slack jawed appearance. Then she grinned.

"So I was right," she all but purred, standing and smirking at Freddy through half-lidded eyes.

"Right about _what_, exactly?" Freddy asked with a glare, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That the shield that prevents you from hurting me is something I can put up and take down at will," she replied, a Cheshire Cat grin plastered all over her face. Freddy wondered again why she was so obsessed with Alice in Wonderland. Stupid concept had always pissed him off.

"And just _why_ are you testing this particular theory?" he asked with a growl, running his blades threateningly across her chest, drawing a few more thin lines of red. "And why didn't you tell me about it _before _testing it out?" Angie shrugged the ruined tee-shirt off, then grabbed his hand and ran the blades down her own arm.

"Oh, no real reason," she purred, seduction written in every line of her body as she curled even closer, grinning as he curled his hand lightly around the back of her neck. Her grin was evil. "Just a little payback for the time you turned your hair red and didn't tell _me._" Freddy growled, wondering why he put up with her. "And I just wanted to know. Up for a little creative experimentation?"

And then Freddy was reminded rather sharply of just _why_ he kept this particular human girl around.

1111111111

"Okay. Christine is?"

"On hypnocil and sleeping."

"Freddy?"

"…Busy."

"Your friend? Angie?"

"Busy. Make your own implications."

Alice rolled her eyes while Kim studied her nails, apparently finding her new purple manicure fascinating.

"And these other three friends of yours?"

"Up late huddled around the computer, positively drooling over the folder of information I gave them on Springwood."

"And you didn't even give them a quarter of what you have."

"Amazing how deep of a hole that town managed to dig for itself, isn't it?"

"Quite." Alice sighed. "Okay, so that's all your bases covered. Mine consist of my son, who is currently sleeping, well out of reach of this evil town. So why do I have the feeling that something's about to go incredibly wrong?"

"Don't know," Kim muttered, rubbing her arms as if from a sudden chill. Samara twined worriedly through her ankles, looking up at her mistress with bright, distressed eyes. "But I feel it and hell, even my cat can feel it, so I doubt you're imagining things. But dwelling on it won't help, so I say for now, we ignore it as best we can and just face it when it comes."

"Sounds like a plan. Unfortunately." Alice said with a sigh. "So, we're set on who we're each searching for next?"

"You've got those bus kids, I've got the John Doe," Kim recited, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Have fun with that, by the way."

"At least I'm not looking for a house falling through the air," Alice teased as they started to walk.

"Hey, I don't have to wander through the desert, so don't--" Kim started, then stopped, face going pale. "Please tell me you feel that?" she asked quietly.

Alice nodded. Acting on impulse both dreamwalked automatically to where the feeling of 'wrong' had just originated, and found themselves staring at another one of Freddy's hastily thrown together traps, and the three confused and frightened men stuck at its center.

"Guys!" Kim yelped in pure, frightened panic, recognizing the Lone Gunmen instantly and ignoring Alice's cry for her to wait, she leaped in to help them. Something burned along her arm and she hissed, standing protectively in front of Langley as whatever had been about to strike him hit her instead. Blood ran down her arm from a long, deep cut she sustained from failing to block that attack as she struggled to break the four of them out of whatever this particular trap was. But she was finding to her fear that she couldn't, it could only be broken from the outside, and she, in her panic had leaped right into its center, and oh _God_ she was an idiot for just leaping in, that was stupid, stupid, _stupid_ and they were going to die here and it was all her fault…

A section of the shield shattered from the outside and Kim literally dream_leaped_ for it, dragging the three guys with her. She collapsed into Alice's waiting arms, letting them drop behind her, as she all but hyperventilated, gasping desperately for air. As soon as she got herself under some semblance of control she sent a sharp jolt to the three guys that she knew would startle their confused minds into wakefulness. She wasn't ready, yet, to deal with their questions. She then quietly murmured a farewell to Alice and dropped away from Dreamworld and into an actual dreamstate herself, her frazzled mind gratefully surrendering to it.

1111111111

Angie winced as she stepped into the shower the following morning and the hot water hit the freshly scabbing cuts her arms and torso now sported. She hissed as she turned and it hit the deeper ones on her back. Damn, but those things stung! She couldn't help but smirk though. Last night had been worth all the stinging she was enduring right now. Oh _hell_ was it worth it, she thought and grinned. Why she hadn't thought to lower her shields before this was beyond her, but she was creative and now she knew several new ways to have one hell of a time. Regrets? Not in a million years.

Strong hands caught hers as she reached for the soap and a low, growling voice whispered in her ear.

"Allow me…"

She grinned wider. Oh yeah, so _damn_ fucking worth it.

1111111111

Langley, Byers, and Frohike wandered into the kitchen the following morning, still shaking off the remnants of a rather vivid nightmare and trying to let the daylight shatter the illusion their minds had for some reason created, trying not to ponder why they'd all shared the same dream, and hoping they could kill the memory over breakfast. They stopped dead in their tracks, however, when they found Kim sitting at the table waiting for them, a cup of tea in hand and a long, fresh, jagged slash down her left arm. Her eyes met theirs, swimming with guilt.

"Guys, I haven't been completely honest about my connection with Springwood…"

**So yay, chapter be done. Blah. Well, some news about this story, part 1 has two to three more chapters to go before it gets wrapped up, but no worries there will be a sequel, I have several parts planned out to this story all ready, so don't expect it to finish up that fast.**

**Freddy: ah fuck…**

**Kim: (glare)**

**Erik: (lynches Freddy)**

**Kim: (evil smirk)**

**Angie: -- This is getting annoyingly repetitive, you know…**

**Oh, and congrats to Music Whore (Kat Black), Ghostwriter, and Zim'sGirl56 for getting the question I asked last chapter correct! You all get to make a brief appearance in a future chapter, and one lucky person get's to be in the next one! Appologies for Zim'sGirl56 for not e-mailing you personally, but I haven't checked my mail in a while... sheepish head scratch And now I'm going to apologize to all of you, my in-box is evil and erases all my old mail after a while. After you're finished beating me over the head with the bricks Freddy will probably provide, please review and include a description of how you want to appear, and a brief personality description (can't promise I won't Mary Sue you for fun, but, meh.) Anyway, I'll catch you all in the next update, which, since this one is so late should be coming soon...**

**Angie: yes, because you've really taught us to trust your word.**

**Kim: (sulks) Leave me alone...**


End file.
